Estevan – Saskatchewan’s drilling rig fleet went back to work with a bang on Jan. 6, with Rig Locator reporting 57 rigs making hole by that afternoon.
This was a jump of 19 rigs compared to its last report on Jan. 3.
The map came alive all over the province, with clumps of rigs showing up throughout much of southeast Saskatchewan, at Shaunavon, north of Highway 16 near Lloydminster and, most curiously, in a string along the Alberta border from Alsask to Macklin.
The net result was 54 per cent utilization rate, with 57 of 105 rigs working. That’s a better rate than Alberta, whose 45 per cent was made up of 165 of 366 rigs, or British Columbia, who had 18 of 40 rigs going. Manitoba had five of six rigs working, for a 83 per cent utilization rate.
However, the national drilling fleet has continued its decline, dropping Dec. 10 to 532 from 549 in November. That’s down from around 800 six years ago.
