US land drilling activity rose modestly last week, led by gains in the Permian and Rocky Mountain regions, even as other basins saw minor declines, TPH Energy strategists said on Tuesday, citing Enverus data.
Jeff LeBlanc, analyst at TPH Energy, said the Enverus rig count rose by nine week-over-week to 592 rigs, outpacing Baker Hughes' smaller gain of five rigs to 536.
On a trailing four-week basis, Enverus showed a net increase of six rigs, compared with a one-rig rise in the Baker Hughes dataset.
Horizontal drilling activity rose modestly, up three rigs week-on-week, with gains driven by private operators. TPH noted elevated rig churn across the dataset, including ongoing entry and exit of lower-horsepower units, which continues to obscure underlying directional trends in activity.
Regionally, the Permian Basin and Rockies led gains, adding three and two rigs, respectively, while the Eagle Ford, Bakken, and Haynesville each saw marginal declines of one rig.
TPH observed a shift toward oil-weighted acreage from dry-gas windows in the Eagle Ford, though frequent rig handoffs suggest activity is being reshuffled rather than expanded.
Offshore Gulf of Mexico activity was flat at 17 floaters and three jackups, TPH said, while Canadian drilling rose by 14 rigs w-o-w to 136, well above the 112 rigs operating a year earlier.