North American drilling activity continued to build this week, with 1,128 rotary rigs working in the US and its waters, and 561 working in Canada, said Baker Hughes Inc., Houston.
Last week there were 1,121 total rigs working in the US and 546 working in Canada. Last year, there were 781 US rigs and 517 working in Canada.
There was one more rig than last week drilling for gas in the US and Canada, for a total of 887. A year ago, there were 637 rigs drilling for gas.
There were 240 rigs drilling for oil this week, up 6 from the week before and up 140 over the early 2000 rig count.
Texas had 436 rigs working this week, up three over last week. Louisiana's count was up 11 to 231. Oklahoma's count lost nine rigs, for a total of 132. Wyoming gained two rotaries for a total of 52. New Mexico's count was 70, down one for the week.
The number of land rotary rigs drilling in the US was 927, up 1 from last week. There were 181 offshore rigs working, up six over last week, and the number of rig barges working in US inland waters remained the same at 20.
Offshore Data Services Inc., Houston, said the mobile offshore rigs working under contract in the Gulf of Mexico increased by one to 180, making the utilization rate 86.1%.
Offshore Data Services reports the number of rigs under contract whether they are drilling or not, while Baker Hughes records only rigs that actually drill at any point during the week.
In European waters, the number of offshore rigs under contract remained stable at 88, making for 87.1% utilization rate. Worldwide, the number of rigs under contract increased by three to 559, making for an 86.1% utilization rate.