Baker Hughes: US drilling rig count leaps to 1,861

The US drilling rig count jumped 30 units to reach a total of 1,861 rigs working during the week ended Apr. 25, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. The US now has 107 more rigs working compared with this week a year ago.

Land-based rigs accounted for most of the gain, collecting 28 units to 1,793. The other 2 were offshore rigs, which now total 54. Rigs drilling in inland waters, at 14, were unchanged from a week ago.

Oil rigs were up 24 units to 1,534; gas rigs, meanwhile, increased 7 units to 323. Rigs considered unclassified dropped 1 unit to settle at 4.

Horizontal drilling rigs shot up 21 units to 1,245. Directional drilling rigs rose 2 units to 218.

Canada’s rig count took a 31-unit hit, leaving that country’s total at 168—still 46 more than this week a year ago. The total was almost evenly split between oil rigs, which dropped 16 units to 69, and gas rigs, which fell 15 units to 99.

Major states, basins

The largest increase of the major oil- and gas-producing states again came in Texas, where 10 more units came online to bring the state’s total to 894. Neighboring Oklahoma gained 5 units to 192. West Virginia rose 4 units to 27. Kansas tallied 3 units to 31. Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, and Pennsylvania each were up 2 units to 112, 91, 64, and 61, respectively. North Dakota, Wyoming, and California each collected 1 unit to reach respective totals of 179, 50, and 41.

Three states were unchanged from a week ago, namely Utah at 27, Arkansas at 12, and Alaska at 9. Ohio, which now has 35 units, was the only state to lose a rig.

The Marcellus was the only major US basin to experience significant movement, rising 6 units to 87.