Thanks. My comments were with regard to the (I assume) specialty rigs used for horizontal drilling and fracking. Not total rigs.
And I still haven’t seen any evidence rigs stood idle because the feds refused to open land for them.
First understand hydraulic fracturing is done after the drilling rig moves off.
Oil driller says its high-tech rigs cant compete with cheap crude
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3244433/posts
Even the most technologically advanced drilling rigs are finding less work as oil prices crash.
Oklahoma oil driller Helmerich & Payne expects 40 to 50 of its souped-up drilling machines to come off the market over the next few weeks, after 11 of those models went idle in the past month, it said in an investor presentation Tuesday.
The firm added it has seen spot prices for its so-called FlexRig units fall 10 percent, and some oil companies are dropping out of contracts early.
It wasn't the only reason. But more land available for production is more competition for mineral production, which is lower prices for mineral acquisition, which is lower prices to the producers, which is more rigs into exploration/production.