By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 7 -- US drilling activity continued to climb for the fourth consecutive week, up by 18 rotary rigs to 966 working, compared with 1,870 during the same period a year ago, said Baker Hughes Inc.
All of the gain was in land operations, up 24 units to 928 drilling. Inland water activity was unchanged at 8 rigs. Offshore drilling was down 6 rigs to 29 in the Gulf of Mexico and a total of 30 off the US.
There were 681 rotary rigs drilling for natural gas this week, up by 4 from the previous week. Oil drilling gained 16 to 277. There were 8 rigs unclassified. Directional drilling declined by 8 to 172 units. Horizontal drilling increased 9 to 422.
Texas registered the largest gain among the biggest oil producing states, up 14 to 361 rotary rigs working. Oklahoma’s rig count increased by 4 to 79. Alaska was up 2 to 8. Arkansas and Colorado gained 1 rig each to equal counts of 45. Wyoming was unchanged at 34. North Dakota and California lost a rig each to 40 and 20, respectively. New Mexico was down 2 to 42. Louisiana lost 5 to 135.
Among other states of interest, Pennsylvania increased by 3 rigs to 49 drilling. Utah was down 2 to 15, and West Virginia lost 1 to 20
Canada’s weekly rig count fell by 5 to 195 active units, compared with 475 rotary rigs working in the same week last year.
