HOUSTON, July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PATTERSON-UTI ENERGY, INC. (NASDAQ:PTEN - News) today reported that for the month of June 2011, the Company had an average of 205 drilling rigs operating, including 201 rigs in the United States and 4 rigs in Canada. For the three months ended June 30, 2011, the Company had an average of 202 drilling rigs operating, including 199 rigs in the United States and 3 rigs in Canada.
202 is exactly what I have in my Q2 forecast.
The number of rigs drilling in Canada has been down for all companies due to the extremely wet spring. The active rig count is going to ramp up sharply during the second half. Look for PTEN to exit the year with ~240 under contract.
I am very bullish on the onshore drillers, primarily because just about every E&P company I look at says they are going to add more rigs this quarter. We have six onshore drillers on our Watch List and they all look solid.