Active Rigs -- As of April 27, 2010

This is a summary of the active rigs at the NDIC's active drilling rig list, April 27, 2010.  This may or may not add up to 111. I could have missed a couple one way or the other, but I believe it's pretty close.

My only comment: some may be disappointed with one company who has only one active rig in North Dakota, and yet its parent has been headquartered in North Dakota for decades. Some may ask, "how did they miss this?" The answer: like some others, perhaps their business plan is to minimize risk by acquiring acreage and partnering, but not actually drilling. Buy why any rigs at all, then?

When EOG's 13th rig is active again, the current number of 111 will move to 112, and once load restrictions on North Dakota highways is lifted, the number should increase. Some analysts have said there could be 150 wells by the end of the year (2010); most have said 125. I'm beginning to wonder if fracking crews are the bottleneck and not the number of rigs.

Rigs are needed for two purposes: a) current cash flow; and, b) to hold leases that are about to expire. If one cannot complete a well because fracking crews are not available, it does not make much sense to bring in another rig, unless there is a backlog of leases about to expire.

There is one other unknown: the number of new drillers coming in.

If my reasoning is correct, the list below should remain constant for the rest of the year with the exception that we might be see a few new drillers bring in rigs.

WLL: 11    

EOG: 12 (earlier this month, EOG had 13)

CLR: 12   

BEXP: 5   

Slawson: 5 

BR: 3 

Marathon: 4 

Hess: 6  

Newfield: 3 

St Mary Land: 2    

Petro-Hunt: 4   

Encore: 2  

XTO: 5  

Anschutz: 4  

Cirque: 1  

Zenergy: 4 

Tracker: 3 

Zavanna: 1  

Kodiak: 1 in ND; 1 in MT

Oasis: 3   

Murex: 3

Others: Questar (1), Sagebrush (1), Hunt (2), Ritchie (0), American (1), Eagle (1), Baytex (1), Samson (0), Simray (1), Jayhawk (0), PDC (1), Cornerstone (1), Peak (1), Fidelity  (1), North Plains (1), BTA (2)