Saskatchewan’s active drilling rig count has remained flat since Oct. 10, with 17 rigs in the field as of Nov. 2, according to Rig Locator (riglocator.ca).
The active drilling rig count is the leading indicator of activity in the oilpatch.
There have between 16 and 18 rigs working over the last three weeks in Saskatchewan, most of them for Crescent Point Energy Corp. It is an improvement from the late spring and early summer, when there were no drilling rigs at all working in Saskatchewan. But it is still a lot less than the same time period for the previous two years, and dramatically less than activity levels during the oil boom, which ended in 2014.
On Oct. 31, 2019, there were 33 rigs working in Saskatchewan. On the same date in 2018, the number was 59.
Canada-wide, drilling activity remains dramatically depressed. On Oct. 31, there were 89 rigs working across Canada. In 2019, that number was 148, and in 2018, it was 226. Alberta and Saskatchewan make up for the bulk of the lower numbers.
On Oct. 31, Alberta had 53 rigs working, compared to 98 in 2019 and 145 in 2018.
For the first time this year, British Columbia slightly edged out its previous two years’ performance. There were 19 rigs working in B.C. on Oct. 31, compared to 12 in 2019, and 15 in 2018.
Manitoba had one rig working.
Of the 17 rigs working in Saskatchewan, one was drilling for helium for North American Helium Inc. at Consul. Another was drilling for potash for Mosaic Canada ULC at Esterhazy.
Crescent Point accounted for the majority of the rigs drilling for oil, with nine rigs scattered throughout the province. In southeast Saskatchewan, two areas saw concentration – three rigs near Stoughton in the Viewfield area, and two south of Oungre. It had two rigs working near Shaunavon, at Rapdan and Clintonville, in southwest Saskatchewan. The last two were working at Dodsland in west central Saskatchewan.
Also in west central Saskatchewan, Teine Energy Ltd. had a rig at Avon Hill, northeast of Kindersley, and another at Dodsland. Baytex Energy Ltd. also had a rig northeast of Kindersley, and a second one southwest of Kerrobert, at Prairiedale.
In northwest Saskatchewan, Serafina Energy Ltd. had one rig working at Prince, north of North Battleford.
Husky Energy, which recently announced a merger with Cenovus Energy Inc., had one rig working at Vawn.
