Overall drilling in U.S. shale basins has increased 38% from a year ago, according to a report by NGI’s Shale Daily.
This increase has been spurred by 100-200% jumps in oil and liquids rich natural gas plays such as the Niobrara in Colorado and southern Wyoming (200%), the Eagle Ford in South Texas (126%) and the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana (105%). U.S. Shale and tights sands rigs at work overall increased to 942 rigs compared to 684 a year ago.
The massive move into the oil/liquids plays reflects the response to the wide spread between the higher oil and bottom-dwelling natural gas prices over the past year.
During the same year ending Jan. 7, 2011 drilling in the Marcellus shale basin in the Appalachian area increased 47%, while the Piceance in western Colorado and Uinta in eastern Utah tight sands plays also showed robust drilling increases of 42% and 33% respectively. The Granite Wash in western Oklahoma and Texas registered an 89% drilling increase over the past year, also reflecting a high liquids content, while the Cana-Woodford, in central Oklahoma, had a drilling increase of 36%. Another popular Texas shale play, Barnett, picked up a 7% gain in rig activity.
On the Decline
On the opposite side is the 8% decline in Louisiana's Haynesville drilling, the 19% drop in the Arkoma-Woodford in Oklahoma and the 18% decline in the tight sands Green River Basin in Wyoming during the same period. Arkansas’ Fayetteville shale also saw a decline in activity, posting a drilling decline of 6%.
Recommended Reading
TotalEnergies Awards SBM Offshore FPSO GranMorgu Development Contract
2024-11-15 - SBM will construct and install a floating production, storage and offloading vessel for TotalEnergies alongside its partner Technip Energies, the company said.
E&P Highlights: Sept. 9, 2024
2024-09-09 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, with Talos Energy announcing a new discovery and Trillion Energy achieving gas production from a revitalized field.
VTX Energy Quickly Ramps to 42,000 bbl/d in Southern Delaware Basin
2024-09-24 - VTX Energy’s founder was previously among the leadership that built and sold an adjacent southern Delaware operator, Brigham Resources, for $2.6 billion.
SM, Crescent Testing New Benches in Oily, Stacked Uinta Basin
2024-11-05 - The operators are landing laterals in zones in the estimated 17 stacked benches in addition to the traditional Uteland Butte.
Hurricane Helene Shuts in Nearly 30% of GoM Crude Production
2024-09-25 - Bumped up to hurricane classification on Sept. 25, Hurricane Helene has shut in 29% of crude and 17% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico as it nears landfall in Florida tomorrow.