There has been a bifurcation of rig counts to well counts as rigs have become more efficient at drilling. Baker Hughes started reporting well counts about 18 months ago for this exact reason.
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Well Count
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The Baker Hughes Well Count is a natural extension of the Baker Hughes Rig Count, which has provided key activity data for more than 70 years. The index provides key U.S. onshore well count data to the oil and gas industry.
As new technologies and methodologies are introduced to the unconventional market, there is a continual evolution of drilling efficiencies, which can be difficult to measure. The Baker Hughes Well Count provides a greater understanding of key market forces, capturing the number of wells that were spud in each major U.S. basin.
Not only does the Baker Hughes Well Count provide a unique perspective of oilfield activity, but when combined with the Baker Hughes Rig Count, drilling efficiencies can be tracked by basin.
It does make sense. With one setup, several wells can be drilled in horizontally in different directions. Formerly, each setup required a new location (bulldozing a clearing, road construction, assembling and disassembling the rig, etc) which takes a couple of weeks, I would guess. Now that time can be used for productive drilling.