Drilling Rig Utilization Back To 2007/2008 Levels
With the fleet size down to its smallest size since 2006 and a 66% jump in
the active count from the depths of 2009, drilling rig utilization rates in
Western Canada this year are back to levels experienced in 2007 and 2008, Rig
Locator records show.
Weekly surveys show an average of 348 rigs were at work over the first eight
months of this year, up 66% from 210 active rigs for the same period in 2009.
Despite the gain, the active rig count in 2010 is still the third lowest since
2000 topping only the 2009 and 2002 counts.
With the available fleet in western Canada down to 802 units, utilization has
surged this year to 43% of the fleet compared to 25% a year ago and utilization
rates of 45% in 2008 and 42% in 2007. The peak drilling activity years of 2005
and 2006 (when the fleet was smaller than this year) saw utilization rates of
65% and 67%, respectively.
![[Figure 1]](RIG_266100.png)
By far the biggest activity increases this year are in the more oily
provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as natural gas prices and
drilling remains weak compared to prior years.
Alberta’s active rig count between January and the end of August
averaged 214 units, up 73% from a year ago but still below all other years since
the year 2000.
Saskatchewan’s active rig count is the highest since 1997 with an
average of 64 rigs employed by operators to the end of August, up from only 32 a
year earlier. And Manitoba is enjoying a mini-boom this year with a record nine
rigs at work over the first eight months (including 18 rigs on the go in recent
weeks).
British Columbia’s gas and oil fields are seeing a solid year of
activity, as good or better than in all years except the gas drilling boom years
of 2004 through 2006. An average of 61 rigs have been at work in the province to
the end of August, a 22% rise from 50 rigs at work last year.
As of Aug. 31, 411 drilling rigs were at work, representing 51% of the
available fleet. That is 203 more rigs active than at the end of August last
year. But for shallower capacity rigs (less than 1 850 metres capacity), only 62
of 158 available units were at work this week – a 28% utilization
rate.
Yesterday, 259 rigs were at work in Alberta, 126 of them targeting oil or
bitumen projects and 117 targeting natural gas or coalbed methane.
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