The US drilling rig count increased by 3 units to reach 503 rigs working for the week ended Aug. 20, according to Baker Hughes data. The count is up 249 units from the 254 rigs working this time a year ago.
The number of rigs drilling on land was up 1 unit week-over-week with a total of 485. The number of rigs drilling offshore was up 1 unit to 15. A single rig increase brought the number of rigs drilling in inland waters to 3.
US oil-directed rigs were up 8 from last week at 405 units. This time a year ago, 183 units were drilling for oil. Rigs targeting gas fell by 5 to 97, 28 more than were drilling for gas at this time a year ago.
Of the major oil and gas-producing states, Louisiana saw the largest increase. A 2-rig increase brought the rig count to 49 for the week.
Four states saw a 1-rig increase, namely New Mexico, 80; North Dakota, 22; Ohio, 12; and Utah, 11.
Texas and West Virginia each dropped a single rig to end the week with 231 and 9 rigs working, respectively.
Six states remained unchanged this week, namely Oklahoma, 30; Pennsylvania 19; Colorado 11; Wyoming, 16; California, 6; and Alaska, 4.
Canada’s rig count decreased by 8 units to 156 rigs drilling for the week. The count is 100 more than the 56 units drilling this week a year ago. At 95 units, Canada’s oil-directed rig count dropped 5 rigs from last week. The gas-directed rig count in Canada decreased by 3 rigs to 60 rigs running for the week.