Drilling Activity for U.S. Land, Inland Waters and Gulf of Mexico All Experienced Increases in April

HOUSTON, May 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Platts Analytics, today announced the U.S. rig count for April 2018 was 1,147, up 52 (+5%) from March 2018, and up 176 (+18%) from April 2017. This rig count includes U.S. onshore, U.S. inland waters, and U.S. offshore Gulf of Mexico drilling rigs.

  • April U.S. land rig count: 1,099, up 46 (+4%) from the previous month and up 177 (+19%) from April 2017
  • April U.S. inland waters and Gulf of Mexico rig count: 48, up 6 (+14%) from the previous month and down 1 (-2%) from April 2017

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"On a month-over-month basis, the incremental growth in April's land rig count was driven entirely by continued ramp-up of drilling in 'traditional' oil formations versus natural gas formations. In fact, we saw that drilling activity that targeted natural gas formations actually fell slightly last month from the prior month," said S&P Global Platts Senior Industry Analyst Trey Cowan.  "Regionally, the strength in Texas drilling activity came mainly from the Permian basis, though there was also boosted activity for liquids drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale basin."

Regarding non-land rigs, the April rise in U.S. inland waters was due in large part to new contracts on barge rigs.

"The Gulf of Mexico rig fleet is benefitting both from additional contracts as well as contract extensions," said S&P Global Platts Rig Analyst Trevor Crone.  

S&P Global Platts U.S. Rig Counts


Apr
2018

Mar
2018

Month
over
Month
Change

%
Change


Apr
2017

Variance
Year
over
Year
(YOY)

YOY %
Variance

Colorado

31

30

1

3%


31

0

0%

Louisiana

41

44

-3

-7%


44

-3

-7%

New Mexico

87

86

1

1%


56

31

55%

North Dakota

55

54

1

2%


47

8

17%

Oklahoma

143

138

5

4%


133

10

8%

Texas

567

531

36

7%


465

102

22%

Rest of U.S. Land

175

170

5

3%


146

29

20%

U.S. Land Subtotal

1,099

1,053

46

4%


922

177

19%

U.S. Inland Waters

11

8

3

38%


15

-4

-27%

U.S. Gulf of Mexico

37

34

3

9%


34

3

9%

U.S. Inland and Gulf of Mexico

48

42

6

14%


49

-1

-2%

Total U.S. Rig Count

1,147

1,095

52

5%


971

176

18%

CONTACT
Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@spglobal.com

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SOURCE S&P Global Platts

For further information: Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@spglobal.com; Gregory Tsichlis, + 817 616 2081, greg.tsichlis@spglobal.com; EMEA: Arnaud Humblot +44 207 176 6685, arnaud.humblot@spglobal.com and Alex Brog +44 207 176 7645, alex.brog@spglobal.com; Singapore: Platts, platts@ryancommunication.com