Global oil & gas drilling fleet grew in May for first time in 3 months

The number of operating oil and gas rigs in the world increased in May for the first time in three months, according to the Baker Hughes oil service company, Report informs referring to Interfax.

On average, 1,262 rigs were operating in the world last month compared to 1,189 rigs in April. At the same time, in May 2021, the indicator turned out to be 86 rigs more than in the same period last year.

In the US, the number of drilling rigs last month increased by 17 units as compared to April and amounted to 453 units. In Canada, there was an increase by one rig (59 units).

In Africa, the number of rigs over the past month increased by 3 units (up to 64 rigs), in Latin America - by 18 (up to 136), in Europe - by 4 (up to 101), in the Middle East - by 14 (up to 266), in Asia-Pacific region - by 16 (up to 183).

Baker Hughes has been publishing data on operating rigs since 1944. At first, the company collected information only in the US and Canada, since 1975 - around the world. However, since June 2019, the company has included in its calculations the number of drilling rigs in Ukraine, while the aggregate data for Europe for previous periods have not been recalculated in this regard.

The number of drilling rigs in the US increased to 457 units for the week ended May 28. This is the highest rate since April 2020.