The US drilling rig count increased by 7 units to reach 528 rigs working for the week ended Oct. 1, according to Baker Hughes data. The count is up 262 units from the 266 rigs working this time a year ago.
The number of rigs drilling on land was up 4 units week-over-week with a total of 513. The number of rigs drilling offshore was up 3 to 13. The number of rigs drilling in inland waters was unchanged at 2.
US oil-directed rigs were up 7 from last week at 428 units. This time a year ago, 189 units were drilling for oil. Rigs targeting gas were unchanged at 99, 25 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 with an additional 3 rigs running to reach 46. New Mexico gained 2 rigs to reach 86 rigs working. Texas and Oklahoma each added a single rig to reach 243 and 40 rigs running, respectively.
Nine states remained unchanged this week, namely North Dakota, 22; Pennsylvania, 18; Wyoming, 18; Ohio, 12; Colorado 11; Utah, 10; West Virginia, 8; California, 6; and Alaska, 5.
Canada’s rig count increased by 3 units to 165 rigs drilling for the week. The count is 90 more than the 75 units drilling this week a year ago. At 97 units, Canada’s oil-directed rig count increased by 1 rig from last week. The gas-directed rig count in Canada increased by 3 units to 68 running for the week. One rig was dropped from the miscellaneous category.
