Remember that rebound we've been expecting for the US land rig
count now that the industry's financial turmoil has stabilized?
Well, it appears to be happening faster than many expected,
according to some recent research by Credit Suisse analyst Arun
Jayaram.
Among other things, Jayaram found that a 14% rig-count boost
from fourth quarter of 2009 during just the first half of the
first quarter already matches the percentage gain for the entire
fourth quarter of last year when compared with the third.
To elaborate, he says the US land rig count has averaged 1,194
for the first quarter so far, compared with an average of 1,048
during the fourth and a low point of 774 back in May of last
year. And, despite the persistence of lower natural gas prices
compared with a boom in oil prices, Jayaram also found that gas
drilling is helping to fuel the acceleration so far this year,
with the gas rig count up 16% to 802.
Drilling down into the
data geographically, Jayaram finds the most significant gains
have occurred in Oklahoma at 30%; Texas at 19%; North Dakota and
Louisiana at 15% each; and, New Mexico at 14%. In addition, he
found that the unconventional rig count growth is actually
lagging the pack as operators demonstrate renewed interest in US
onshore opportunities wherever they might be.