Earlier this morning, Veterans Day, November 11, 2010, someone noted that NDIC posted 157 active rigs in North Dakota. This is a new record.
Just the other day, I noted and posted that "we" had gotten back up to 156 active rigs in North Dakota, tying the previous record. I almost added that we should see a new record but I did not want to "jinx" that possibility, but here "we" are!
I personally find this quite incredible for at least three reasons: a) some Bakken rigs have moved to Montana; b) infrastructure can barely support the number of rigs already there, much less more rigs; and, c) winter is just around the corner. Of course, maybe if a company wants another rig in the Bakken, they need to move it in before winter hits. One could add a fourth reason: CAPEX is already huge in the Bakken and each rig increases that CAPEX for individual companies.
- Continental Resources: 20
- Whiting: 14
- EOG: 11
- Hess: 11 (Hess recently said they were adding a tenth rig, but the data today shows eleven Hess rigs)
- Slawson: 7
- Oasis: 6
- BEXP: 6
- Marathon: 5
- Burlington Resources: 5 (a subsidiary of COP)
- XTO: 5 (a subsidiary of XOM)
- KOG: remains a 2-rig program
- Fidelity (MDU: 1 rig)
I've said this before: the number of rigs probably correlates to acreage controlled in many cases; companies with much more capital available (such as COP and XOM) and yet only a few rigs, suggests that they have significantly less acreage than others. That's probably an oversimplification. If wrong, then one wonders why the companies have not put more rigs against their holdings in the Bakken.