After remaining flat the previous week, US drilling increased by 7 rotary rigs to 576 working this week, compared with 338 active units in the same period a year ago, said Baker Hughes.
Land operations were responsible for the increase, up by 6 rigs to 560 working. Offshore drilling increased by 1 rig to 14 active units, all in the Gulf of Mexico. Inland waters activity was unchanged at 2 units.
Of the rigs working, 471 were drilling for oil, an increase of 4 from the previous week. Units drilling for gas increased by 3 to 105. Directional drilling remained unchanged at 31 rigs. Horizontal drilling gained 8 to 521. Vertical drilling dropped a rig to 24.
New Mexico and Oklahoma led the increase among major producing states, up 2 rigs each to 90 and 46, respectively.
Five states added a single rig to this week’s counts: Texas, with 272 rigs working; Louisiana, 48; West Virginia, 12; Ohio, 11; and Utah, 10.
Pennsylvania and Alaska each dropped a single rig to reach 18 and 5 rigs working, respectively.
Four states were unchanged for the week, namely North Dakota, 27; Wyoming, 15; Colorado, 12; and California, 9.
Canada’s rig count dropped by 3 to 177, up from 111 during the same period last year.
Mikaila Adams | Managing Editor - News
Mikaila Adams has 20 years of experience as an editor, most of which has been centered on the oil and gas industry. She enjoyed 12 years focused on the business/finance side of the industry as an editor for Oil & Gas Journal's sister publication, Oil & Gas Financial Journal (OGFJ). After OGFJ ceased publication in 2017, she joined Oil & Gas Journal and was named Managing Editor - News in 2019. She holds a degree from Texas Tech University.