US land drilling activity delivered mixed signals last week, with data from two major industry trackers diverging on the direction of rig counts, TPH Energy Research analyst Jeff LeBlanc said in a note on Monday.
According to Enverus, the US land rig count fell by nine rigs week-over-week to 583, leaving the trailing four-week change at a modest gain of one rig.
In contrast, Baker Hughes (BKR) reported an increase of eight rigs during the week, bringing its US rig count to 549 and extending the trailing four-week gain to six rigs.
Enverus data showed horizontal drilling activity declining by nine rigs from the previous week, with privately held operators accounting for the majority of the reduction, down eight rigs.
Regionally, the steepest declines were recorded in the Haynesville and Permian basins, which lost five and four rigs, respectively.
Despite the reported decreases, the weakness is more likely attributable to data volatility than to meaningful operational changes.
Activity reductions among larger Permian operators appear unlikely under current market conditions, although some rig transfers among private operators may have contributed to the reported shifts.
Similarly, Haynesville rig trends do not appear consistent with underlying operational activity, as affected drillers continue to indicate broadly flat rig counts in publicly reported fleet data.
Offshore, US Gulf of America drilling activity declined by one floating rig over the week, leaving 16 floaters and three jackups actively working, LeBlanc said.
Meanwhile, Canadian drilling activity strengthened, rising by seven rigs during the week to 167 active rigs, compared with 112 rigs operating during the same period a year earlier.
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