118!

Yup, a new record: 118!

That's how many active rigs there are in North Dakota, May 28, 2010.

I still think there may be as many as 125 rigs: a couple days ago when I checked all companies individually, I noted that about ten companies had decreased their active rig count by at least one rig. I assume most of those rigs were in the process of being moved to a new site and not "active."

The big players in the Bakken have all increased their rig count substantially this year (EOG, CLR, and WLL) while one of the bigger voices out there, BEXP, has not increased its rig count in several months: it remains at five. It is hard to believe that the company almost synonymous with the Bakken, Hess, has only six active rigs compared to 17, 14, and 12 for CLR, EOG, and WLL, respectively.

For a more complete listing, click here.