Drilling For Oil And Gas Rises Outside North America

Total global drilling for oil and gas (as measured by the rig count released by Baker Hughes) is said to have risen by 0.17 percent MoM (6 rigs) to 3,437 rigs. However, the activity is 0.6 percent below previous year levels. This increase was primarily led by increased activity outside North America, where the number of rigs engaged in drilling for oil and gas are rising at a fast paced rate.

While activity in North America declined, other areas including South America and Africa pulled up the world total. This is helping international oil companies to compensate for the decline in U.S. production.

Figure 1: Total world number of rigs in October 2013