Oil and gas drilling in Oklahoma continued to see a slight increase as the latest Baker Hughes Co. rig report shows the state’s rig count increased by one to reach 58 rigs this past week.
A year ago, there were only 26 active oil and gas rigs in Oklahoma. But the gain totaled 32 with the most recent report from the oil and gas servicing company.
Nationally, the count soared by 14 to a total of 728 rigs, a gain of 273 compared to a year ago when there were 455 rigs in the U.S. The gain over the year included 220 oil rigs and 51 gas rigs.
In the past week, the national gain included 13 more oil rigs for a total of 576 and one gas rig to reach 150.
Texas remained the most active state with a gain of 12 rigs for a total of 357, most located in the Permian Basin where several Oklahoma firms are drilling. New Mexico was unchanged at 98 while North Dakota stayed at 36 rigs. Louisiana added one rig to reach 64.
Of the remaining states where drilling is underway, Pennsylvania stayed at 25, West Virginia was unchanged at 14, Wyoming continued with 16, Ohio had no change at 12 and Colorado’s count was steady with 16.
The biggest addition of rigs in the oil and gas plays was of course, the Permian Basin where the count hit 343 after an addition of 8 rigs. The Eagle Ford of South Texas added 3 to reach 65 rigs while the Haynesville saw a growth of 2 rigs to reach 70.
The Ardmore Woodford added one rig to reach two while the Arkoma Woodford stayed at 3 and the Cana Woodford was unchanged at 27.
The Barnett continued with four while the DJ Basin stayed at 15 and the Granite Wash in western Oklahoma dropped by one to 3 rigs.
The Marcellus was unchanged at 39 and the Mississippian continued with only one rig. The Utica had no change with 12 rigs and the Williston was unchanged at 38.