Louisiana OCS Rig Count Marks Another Post-Moratorium High

Weekly count surpasses 40 rigs for first time since federal deep water ban

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Scott Angelle on Friday announced that the number of rigs operating in the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters off Louisiana’s coast has reached 41 in the most recent weekly count – the first time rig activity has surpassed 40 since a few weeks before federal regulators declared a months-long ban on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in late May 2010.

The current count of 41 rigs drilling in Louisiana OCS waters, is up one from the previous week, up 18 from the 23 active rigs that were operating in the area at the same time last year – an increase of about 75 percent. The average count of rigs running during the three months prior to the federal moratorium that was declared lifted in October 2010, was about 42. In the weeks that followed the declaration of the moratorium, that rig count fell as low as 11.

“Through the efforts of the Gulf Economic Survival Team, the Back-to-Work Coalition, we have made progress in approaching a level of drilling activity that is much closer to what it was before the moratorium,” Angelle said. “We still have work to do to ensure that progress continues, but I am bullish on the opportunities provided by the Gulf OCS to produce both energy and jobs.”