It was in 1987, nearly a quarter-century ago, that Houston-based oil field services firm Baker Hughes started keeping separate counts of the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas.
This week, for the first time since that count began, the number of oil rigs topped 1,000, and Texas has a whole lot to do with that.The state has 843 rigs drilling for oil and gas, accounting for 45 percent of all U.S. drilling activity. Texas has experienced a tremendous resurgence in drilling for oil and accompanying natural gas liquids in West Texas' Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas and the Granite Wash in the Texas Panhandle as a result of higher oil prices coupled with technological advances in horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing and seismic technology.The Texas Railroad Commission, the agency that oversees the oil and gas industry, divides the state into 10 districts. Just one -- District 8, which includes the Midland-Odessa area in the heart of the Permian Basin -- has more rigs operating than any state other than Texas.There were 258 rigs drilling this week in District 8, Baker Hughes said. That's 82 more than the 176 active rigs in Oklahoma, which has the highest statewide count outside of Texas. There were 163 rigs drilling in North Dakota, home to the Bakken Shale.Three Railroad Commission districts with considerable Permian Basin operations -- designated Districts 8, 8A and 7C -- have a total of 366 active rigs. That's nearly triple the number operating in those districts in November 2009, when oil prices were substantially lower.The surge in Permian Basin drilling is a "major, major modern boom," said Pete Stark, a vice president of IHS CERA, an energy consulting firm, in a quote appearing in an article Thursday in the Financial Times of London.Baker Hughes said there were 1,003 rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. this week, a gain of 19 rigs from a week earlier. There were 873 drilling for gas, a gain of three.Online: www.bakerhughes.com/rigcountJack Z. Smith, 817-390-7724Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
