The US drilling rig count dropped 13 rigs to 1,044 units working for the week ended Aug. 24, according to Baker Hughes data. The count is up 104 units from this time a year ago when the count stood at 940.
Offshore units were down 3 rigs from last week with 18 units working. A total of 1,025 rigs were drilling on land, down 9 from a week ago. The number of rigs drilling in inland waters was down 1 to just 1 unit working.
US oil-directed rigs were down 9 from last week at 860 units working, but up from the 759 rigs drilling for oil this week a year ago. Gas-directed rigs also were down at 182. This time a year ago, 180 units were drilling for gas.
Like last week, Texas saw the largest gain in rigs among the major oil and gas-producing states. With a 3-unit gain, 528 units were drilling in the state. Unlike last week, Texas is the only state to see a rig increase.
Six states were unchanged this week, namely Oklahoma, 150; Colorado, 30; Wyoming, 29; West Virginia, 13; Utah, 6; and Arkansas, 0.
Louisiana saw the largest drop in rigs. The state is down 7 units to 54 rigs running. North Dakota’s rig count fell by 4 to reach 52 rigs running.
Five states were down 1 rig each this week, namely New Mexico, 103; Pennsylvania, 40; Ohio, 21; California, 15; and Alaska, 5.
Canada’s rig count gained 17 units this week to reach 229 rigs working. The count surpasses the 217 units working a year ago. Canada gained 12 oil-directed rigs to reach 153 for the week ended Aug. 24 and gained 5 gas-directed rigs to reach 76.