Canadian Drillers Chasing Better Prospects in Texas

Heavy machinery on display at the Global Petroleum Show in Calgary in a 2016 file photo. Five years after Alberta raised a record-setting $3.5 billion at auctions of provincially owned oil and gas drilling rights, sales are on pace this year to set a historic low, part of a downward trend seen across Western Canada. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh, File

CALGARY—A growing number of Canadian drilling rigs are being moved south of the border to take advantage of brighter prospects for oil and gas in the United States and observers say it’s unlikely they will ever return home.

A week ago, Calgary-based Akita Drilling Ltd. announced it would enter the U.S. market by moving a rig from Western Canada into the prolific Permian Basin in West Texas. It said it is looking at moving more rigs south.