Baker Hughes announces May 2006 rig counts
  by: OilOnline
  Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Baker Hughes Incorporated announced that the international rig count for May 2006 was 920, up eight from the 912 counted in April 2006, and up one from the 919 counted in May 2005. The international offshore rig count for May 2006 was 275, up six from the 269 counted in April 2006 and unchanged from the 275 counted in May 2005.

Excluding Iran and Sudan, the international rig count for May 2006 was 920, up eight from the 912 counted in April 2006, and up 59 from the 861 counted in May 2005. The international offshore rig count for May 2006 was 275, up six from the 269 counted in April 2006 and up nine from the 266 counted in May 2005.

The US rig count for May 2006 was 1,635 up 38 from the 1,597 counted in April 2006 and up 316 from the 1,319 counted in May 2005. The Canadian rig count for May 2006 was 240, up 42 from the 198 counted in April 2006 and down seven from the 247 counted in May 2005.

The worldwide rig count for May 2006 was 2,795, up 88 from the 2,707 counted in April 2006 and up 310 from the 2,485 counted in May 2005. (A) Excluding Iran and Sudan, the worldwide rig count for May 2006 was 2,795, up 88 from the 2,707 counted in April 2006 and up 368 from the 2,427 counted in May 2005.

The Baker Hughes Rotary Rig Counts are counts of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States, Canada and international markets. Baker Hughes has issued the rotary rig counts as a service to the petroleum industry since 1944, when Hughes Tool Company began weekly counts of US and Canadian drilling activity. Hughes initiated the monthly international rig count in 1975. In 1987, Baker Oil Tools began its monthly workover rig count.