Tulsa-based Helmerich & Payne, Nabor Industries, a drilling rig operator headquartered in Bermuda with principal offices in Houston, and Calgary oilfield service company Ensign Energy Services currently are the top three drilling rig operators in Texas, according to Enverus and the Houston Chronicle. The Chronicle reported this week Helmerich & Payne operates 117 of the 368 horizontal drilling rigs in the state. Nabor is second with 42 active rigs, and Ensign ranks third with 33.
The top exploration and production company, which the Chronicle calls their leading “customer,” is Irving’s ExxonMobil with 35 rigs, and Midland’s Diamondback Energy and Irving’s Pioneer Natural Resources each has 20 rigs. The Chronicle said ExxonMobil is “poised to become the number one driller in Texas,” filing for more than 600 drilling permits so far this year (87 percent in Permian Basin).
I hear Exxon/Mobil and Apache/Oxy will be THE biggest driller in Texas, mostly centered around the Delaware and Orogrande Basins of west Texas.
ol’ Lawrence in Verhalen, Tx