By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 29 -- US drilling activity climbed for the fifth consecutive week, up by 35 rotary rigs to 1,317 working, compared with 1,472 working rigs in the same period last year, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.
The entire week’s increase was in land operations, which were up 35 units with 1,261 rigs drilling. Inland waters was unchanged at 14 rigs. US offshore also remained unchanged at 41 units in the Gulf of Mexico and a total 42 rigs in US waters.
Of the US rigs working, 861 were drilling for natural gas, an increase of 28 from last week. The number of rigs drilling for oil rose by 7 units to 444. There were 12 rotary rigs unclassified. Horizontal drilling increased by 20 units to 647. Directional drilling gained 8 to 226.
Texas had the largest increase among major producing states, up 10 rigs to 538 working. Oklahoma increased 7 rigs to 112. Pennsylvania jumped by 6 units to 70. North Dakota was up 3 to 75. Alaska and Louisiana were both up 2 units to 9 and 197, respectively. Up 1 unit each were Arkansas, Colorado, and New Mexico with counts of 40, 47, and 53, respectively. California, with 24, and Wyoming, with 37, were both unchanged from last week. West Virginia lost 1 unit to 25.
Canada’s rotary rig count increased by 36 to 531 units working this week, up from 432 a year ago.