The Land Rig Newsletter team acknowledged the first birthday of The Unconventional Drilling Report by comparing the July 14, 2011, issue with the first UDR they published on July 15, 2010. Among the comps:
The summary rig counts for the shale, tight sands, and coalbed methane plays were little changed from a year ago at this time. But some of the individual plays have changed dramatically: Haynesville down by 59, Eagle Ford up by 104, Barnett down by 28, and the liquids-rich DJ Basin more than doubled while the other three, more gas-prone, tight sands plays all dropped sharply. Oil-directed rigs in the shales and tight sands were up by 88; gas rigs were down by 64.
Rigs drilling horizontal wells jumped by 72, while vertical rigs fell by more than half.
What will the UDR metrics will look like a year from now? First, there will be a very big increase in summary rig counts—starting with the July 28 issue, when the team rolls out data for a large number of new plays—all liquids-focused.