Monday, October 26, 2009

Active Rigs

Locator: 10001RIGS.


Active rigs in North Dakota (by producer)
Official Activity

Page 1 (last entry, September 8, 2016)
New entries will begin on Page 2.

Updates/Commentary: 
Milestones:
  • 29 rigs -- April 23, 2020
  • 66 rigs -- May 12, 2019
  • 25 rigs -- May 20, 2016
  • 218 rigs -- May 29, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
  • 215 rigs -- May 24, 2012
  • 210 rigs -- April 3, 2012
  • 205 rigs -- February 1, 2012
  • 200 rigs -- August 26, 2011
  • 195 rigs -- August 22, 2011
  • 190 rigs -- August 9, 2011
  • 185 rigs -- August 8, 2011
  • 180 rigs -- July 18, 2011
  • 175 rigs -- April 16, 2011
  • 170 rigs -- February 17, 2011
  • 165 rigs -- November 29, 2010
  • 160 rigs -- November 18, 2010
  • 150 rigs -- October 6, 2010
  • 145 rigs -- September 3, 2010
  • 140 rigs -- July 29, 2010
  • 135 rigs -- July 21, 2010
  • 130 rigs -- June 15, 2010
  • 125 rigs -- June 11, 2010
  • 120 rigs -- May 28, 2010
  • 115 rigs -- May 20, 2010
  • 110 rigs -- April 24, 2010
  • 105 rigs -- March 25, 2010
  • 100 rigs -- March 8, 2010 
  •   95 rigs -- February 22, 2010: ties record
95: Bloomberg: highest rig count in US since 1993

UPDATES

April 28, 2013 (big UP movers: BR, CRL, G3 Operating, QEP, Triangle) (big DOWN movers: Petro-Hunt; Statoil [BEXP])
  • Abraxas:1
  • American Eagle: 1
  • Armstrong: 1
  • Arsental Energy: 1
  • Baytex: 2
  • BEXP:  0 (transitioned from STO to BEXP)
  • BR:  12
  • CLR:  19
  • Cornerstone: 0
  • Crescent Point Energy: 0
  • Denbury Onshore: 0
  • Emerald (was VOG): 1
  • Enerplus (ERF): 3
  • Environmentally Clean: 0
  • EOG: 5
  • Fidelity:  3
  • G3 Operating (Halcon):  8
  • GMX Resources: 0
  • Helis (now QEP)
  • Hess:  14
  • Hunt: 2
  • KOG: 8
  • Legacy: 1
  • Liberty Resources: 1
  • Marathon (MRO):  5
  • Murex: 0
  • Newfield: 3
  • North Plains: 0
  • Oasis:  8
  • OXY USA:  7
  • Petro-Hunt: 6 (I believe Petro-Hunt sold a significant amount of acreage since last rig update)
  • QEP: 8 (bought Helis since last rig update)
  • Samson Oil and Gas: 1 (new to the list?)
  • Samson Resources: 3
  • Sequel: 1
  • Sinclair: 1
  • Slawson: 4
  • SM Energy:  4
  • Statoil: 12 (transitioned from BEXP to STO)
  • Triangle: 4
  • True: 1
  • Welter Consulting: 1
  • Whiting:  19
  • WPX: 4
  • XTO:  9
  • Zavanna: 1
  • Zenergy: 2
August 22, 2011
  • Abraxas: 1
  • Baytex: 2
  • BEXP:  16
  • BR:  9
  • CLR:  14
  • Cornerstone: 1
  • Crescent Point Energy: 2
  • Denbury Onshore: 4
  • Enerplus (ERF): 2
  • Environmentally Clean: 1
  • EOG: 7
  • Fidelity:  4
  • G3 Operating (Halcon): 2
  • GMX Resources: 1
  • Helis: 3
  • Hess:  17 
  • Hunt: 2
  • KOG: 8
  • Legacy: 1
  • Liberty Resources: 1
  • Marathon (MRO):  6
  • Murex: 2
  • Newfield: 2
  • North Plains: 2
  • Oasis:  8
  • OXY USA:  6
  • Petro-Hunt: 12
  • QEP: 4
  • Samson Resources: 4
  • Sequel: 1
  • Sinclair: 1
  • Slawson: 4
  • SM Energy:  4
  • Triangle: 2
  • True: 1
  • Whiting:  17
  • WPX: 6
  • XTO:  7
  • Zavanna: 1
  • Zenergy:  4
February 3, 2011
  • CLR: 23
  • WLL: 15
  • Hess: 15 (includes 7 AEZ rigs)
  • EOG: 9 -- has been as high as 13
  • BEXP, Newfield, Oasis, Petro-Hunt, XTO: each with 7
  • Encore, MRO, Slawson: each with 6
  • Anschutz (now OXY), BR: each with 5
  • Samson Resources: 4
  • Hunt, Murex, Tracker, Zenergy: each with 3
  • Baytex, KOG, North Plains, OXY, QEP, Zavanna: each with 2 (KOG says it is adding a 3rd)
  • The following each had one (1) active rig in North Dakota today: Arsenal, Core 54, Cornerstone, Enerplus, Fidelity, G3, Helis, Legacy, Oil for America, Peak, Prima, Sinclair, and SM. (SM has been as high as 2; Fidelity says it is adding a second)
October 11, 2010 (compare to Jul 13, 2010): 135 (compare to October, 2009: 56):  
WLL: 14 (up 2)   
EOG: 13 (same)
CLR: 20 (up 1)   
BEXP: 7 (up 2)   
Slawson: 5 (down 1)
BR: 5 (up 2)
Marathon: 6 (down 1)
Hess: 10 (up 1)
Newfield: 5 (up 1)
St Mary Land: 2 (same)     
Petro-Hunt: 5 (same)   
Encore: 3 (same)  
XTO: 5 (same)  

Anschutz: 5 (same)
Cirque: 2 (up 2)
Zenergy: 1(down)
Tracker: 3 (same)
Zavanna: 1 (same)
Kodiak: 2 (same -- both in ND now)
Oasis: 6 (up 2) 
Murex: 2 (down 1)
Others: QEP (2 -- up 1);  Sagebrush (1 -- down 2), Hunt (2), Ritchie (1), American (4 -- up 1), Eagle (0), Baytex (2 -- down 1);  Samson (3), Simray (0 - down 1), Jayhawk (0), PDC (0), Cornerstone (2 -- same); Peak (1), Fidelity  (1), North Plains (2), BTA (1).
If a number goes down, my hunch is the rig is moving to a new site, going over to Montana, or is being refurbished. I doubt rigs are being moth-balled or sent to states outside the Bakken.

It's really quite amazing how much activity/production these companies can get out of one or two rigs. During the recent boom, the number of rigs rose to a high of 99 (summer of 2008) and dropped to a low of 33 (summer, 2009). The number of rigs is gradually increasing and it appears we will be near 90 wells by summer of 2010.

In the past, the norm was to complete a well in 45 days. Now drillers are routinely reaching "total depth" in less than 30 days (for a horizontal well; a vertical well can be drilled in about a week).

Producers used to "frac" a well immediately after the well reached total depth. They now may wait a week, a month, or even longer.

Total depth (TD): that is the total length of pipe put into the well, not the depth straight down from the surface of the ground to the targeted formation (such as the Bakken). Drillers are generally reaching the Bakken at about 9,000 feet, and then drill laterally for another mile (an additional 5,000; for one-section spacing) or two miles (an addition 10,000 after going vertical; for two-section spacing).  Therefore, a TD of 14, 000 to 15,000 suggests a "short lateral" and a TD of 18,000 or more suggests a "long lateral."

*****

Following the number of active rigs by producer will give you the best idea of what the next year will be like. This list is from November 12, 2009. Compare it with the list at the top of the page.

WLL: 7
EOG: 6
CLR: 5
BEXP: 3
Slawson: 3
BR: 3
Marathon: 3
Hess:3
Petro-Hunt: 3
St Mary Land: 3
XTO: 2
Anschutz: 3
Cirque: 2
Zenergy: 2

7 comments:

  1. Thank you for your great and informational blog. I was hoping to see some back-postings of your "By The Numbers" section. Would you be able to direct me of where I can find this on your blog site, or of your resources. Thank you! Please feel free to email me at chelseagh@ymail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chelsea,

    Thank you for your kind comments. Perhaps the best spot is the NDIC website and specifically their "General Statistics" page.

    This is the URL for their "General Statistics":

    https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/stats/statisticsvw.asp

    If you go to the NDIC home page (https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/), click on "General Statistics" on the sidebar on the left.

    If that doesn't get you what you want, let me know more specifically what you are looking for and I will try to find it for you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks very much! I was looking for the figures of active rigs in 2009 and 2010, and if I'm reading the Commission's Monthly Statistical Update correctly, on the "General Statistics" page, I found the information there. Your help is much appreciated. Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are very welcome. The NDIC website if one of the best sites I've seen among the various states with similar sites.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hey! how can I find out how many acre( leases) a company has leased in the last 5 years,cause I have 2 yrs left and trying to figure out if they will get to drill it

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have no idea; something tells me that information would be very,very hard to come by, and even if they had the rigs and time to drill, it doesn't mean they would. Even if a company said they planned to drill a particular lease next month, they could change their minds and go elsewhere. Oil companies keep their plans very "close hold."

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your best bet is to ask the folks at Teegue's "Bakken Shale" discussion group which is on the right, on the sidebar. They are always most helpful.

    I'm traveling and don't have acces to all my usual sources.

    ReplyDelete