Oil Drilling Falls from 23 Year High in US

Drilling activity in the oil industry is measured by the number of rigs. These rigs are further sub divided into Land Rigs, Inland Rigs and Offshore Rigs. US drilling activity today dropped from a 23 year high with 18 rigs down and 2013 still working as per a report by OGJ.

The major contribution to this decline was due to a fall in land rigs which were down by 19 rigs at 1919 rigs functional. Inland waters saw a decline by 1 rig and offshore rigs declined by 2 to stand at 72 for US waters overall.

Worst hit in terms of drilling capacity for rigs is natural gas. The rigs for natural gas dropped by 20 and stood at 15686 rigs or the week. The decrease in active rigs would account to a fall in upstream production, particularly from the Texas area. This might temporarily push up oil prices.