The US drilling rig count increased by 10 units to reach 543 rigs working for the week ended Oct. 15, according to Baker Hughes data. The count is up 261 units from the 282 rigs working this time a year ago.
The number of rigs drilling on land was up 9 units week-over-week with a total of 529. The number of rigs drilling offshore was up 1 to 12. The number of rigs drilling in inland waters was unchanged at 2.
US oil-directed rigs were up 12 from last week at 445 units. This time a year ago, 205 units were drilling for oil. Rigs targeting gas were down by 1 to 98, 24 more than were drilling for gas at this time a year ago.
Of the major oil and gas-producing states, Texas again saw the largest increase with an additional 3 rigs running to reach 250. Louisiana, Oklahoma, and California each gained 2 rigs to reach 47, 43, and 9 rig working, respectively. West Virginia and Alaska each added a single rig to reach 11 and 6 rigs running, respectively.
New Mexico and Ohio each dropped a single rig to reach respective counts of 85 and 10.
Five states remained unchanged this week, namely North Dakota, 22; Wyoming, 18; Pennsylvania, 17; Colorado 11; and Utah, 10.
Canada’s rig count increased by 1 unit to 168 rigs drilling for the week. The count is 88 more than the 80 units drilling this week a year ago. At 98 units, Canada’s oil-directed rig count increased by 3 rigs from last week. The gas-directed rig count in Canada decreased by 2 units to 70 running for the week.