Of US land drilling contractors, Helmerich & Payne (H&P) led the pack total drilled measured depth in the first quarter of the year.
The latest rankings of US land drilling contractors and customers released by Enverus on 18 August used activity from the first quarter of the year to compare contractors and operators across total drilled measured depth, well count, average drilling rate, average measured depth, average lateral length, and average rig count. The results could change as additional oil and gas activity data is reported, the analyst firm said. The firm sourced the drilling rankings from Enverus FOUNDATIONS and Enverus Activity Analytics.
According to Enverus, H&P ranked first in total drilled measured depth with 15.85 million ft across 776 wells, followed by Patterson-UTI Drilling with 9.51 million ft across 442 wells, Nabors Industries Ltd. with 6.55 million ft across 331 wells, Ensign Energy Services with 4.21 million ft across 257 wells, and Precision Drilling Corp. with 3.89 million ft across 205 wells.
Enverus said the rankings offer a broader view than drilled footage alone and noted the number one contractor by total drilled footage was not the fastest driller among the top five. Of the top 5, Precision snagged top ranking for the highest average footage per day, at 2,082 ft, followed by Ensign with 1,793 ft/day, H&P at 1,698 ft/day, Nabors at 1,629 ft/day, and Patterson-UTI at 1,568 ft/day.
Mark Chapman, principal analyst, OFS, at Enverus Intelligence Research, said in a press release that the rankings offer a practical benchmark for understanding how leading drilling contractors and operators are performing across activity, execution, and well design.
“Drilled footage is an important measure of market activity, but the broader data set adds context around drilling pace, well design, and rig utilization,” he said. “These rankings give the industry a consistent way to benchmark activity across leading contractors and operators while accounting for the reporting lags that are part of oil and gas data.”
The rankings also put Exxon at the top of the operator list with 5.44 million ft drilled across 229 wells. EOG moved up two positions to second with 3.39 million ft. Devon ranked third with 3.3 million ft, followed by Occidental with 3.28 million ft, and ConocoPhillips with 2.60 million ft.