US oil and gas drilling rig activity this week gained 32 units to reach a total of 2,019 rigs working. The rig count for the week ended Dec. 16 was up by 310 units from the comparable period a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.
Land drilling operations made the largest gains from a week ago, topping out at 1,959 units drilling. Inland waters activity increased by 2 rigs to reach 17 units working. Offshore drilling also added 2 units to 43 rigs active.
Of the US rigs working, 1,196 were drilling for oil, shooting up 35 rigs compared with a week ago. Rigs drilling for gas for the week ended Dec. 16 fell by 2 units, to reach 818 rigs. There were 5 rotary rigs unclassified, down 1 from the previous week.
Directional drilling activity was down 4 units to 213 rigs working. Horizontal drilling shot up by 33 units to reach 1,184 rigs.
Texas made the largest gain this week among the top producing US states, reaching 919 units working, up 16 from last week. Louisiana gained 5 units to 151 rigs working. Up 3 units each were Oklahoma, 199; North Dakota, 188; and Alaska, 10. Arkansas, at 35 this week, was up 1 rig. Three states—Pennsylvania, Wyoming, and West Virginia—were unchanged from a week ago with respective counts of 110, 53, and 28. Down 1 rig each were Colorado, 80; New Mexico, 76; and California, 50.
Canada’s rig count was up 27 units from a week ago at 531 rigs working, which was up 31 units from the same period last year.