By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, July 6 -- The US rotary rig count this week remained the same as last week overall, but the Canadian count fell slightly, according to Baker Hughes Inc.
There were 1,275 rigs working in the US and its waters, up 362 from a year ago, said Baker Hughes. In Canada, 304 rigs were working, down 18 from last week and down 13 from a year ago.
The number of US rigs drilling for natural gas fell 2 from last week to 1,054, which is still higher than last year's 715 count. The number drilling for oil rose 2 to 219, up 21 from a year ago. Two rigs were unclassified.
Rig counts in two states rose by 2, bringing Alaska's count to 13 and Wyoming's count to 63. The count rose by 1 in Louisiana and Texas, bringing the count to 232 and 514 respectively. New Mexico remained unchanged at 80, as did Oklahoma with 157. California's count fell by 1 to 41.
The utilization rate among mobile offshore rigs worldwide fell slightly to 89%, said officials at the ODS-Petrodata Group, Houston. There were 580 rigs under contract, down 5 from last week.
In the US Gulf of Mexico, 85.8% of the 212 mobile offshore rigs available were under contract. In the Europe/Mediterranean Sea region, 95.1% of the 102 rigs available were under contract, said ODS-Petrodata.