By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Apr. 6 �The US and Canada rotary rig count fell by 46 this week, for a total 1,473 rotary rigs working on land and offshore, Baker Hughes Inc. officials said Friday.
The count is up 495 from 1 year ago.
Rigs working in the US onshore were 1001, down two from last week. There were 22 working in inland waters, unchanged from last week; and 177 rigs were working off the US, up 9 from last week.
Canada's rig count was 273, up 53 from last week and up 92 from 1 year ago.
The number of US rigs drilling for oil rose 9 from last week for a total of 253, a number up 67 from a year ago.
There were 944 US rigs drilling for gas, down 2 from last week and up 334 from a year ago.
Three rigs were unclassified, the same number as last week.
Oklahoma's rig count rose 6 to a total of 144 for the week. Two states -- Louisiana and New Mexico � tallies rose by two rigs, for a count of 232 and 75 respectively.
Wyoming's count rose 1 to a total of 54. Alaska remained the same at 14. California lost 1, with 33 rigs working last week. Texas lost 5 rigs, for a total of 473.
The ODS-Petrodata Group Friday reported a net increase of four mobile offshore rigs under contract worldwide. It also reported a net one rig decline in fleet size due to a retirement. Of the world's 648 offshore rigs, 88.9% are under contract, said Tom Marsh, associate publisher of the weekly study.
US Gulf of Mexico rig utilization rose by one contracted rig. Of the 210 rigs in the region, 89% are under contract.
European offshore rig utilization rose one rig to a total of 94, for a 93.1% utilization rate.
ODS-Petrodata also reported 248 platform rigs contracted worldwide for 80% utilization, which was the same as last week.
