North American drilling activity posted an increase for the week ended Oct. 14, with 769 rotary rigs working in the US and another 216 in Canada, Baker Hughes officials reported Friday.
The rig count for the US is up 7 from the previous week and up 226 from a year ago. Six more rigs were drilling on land compared with last week and one additional rig was drilling offshore.
Oil drove the US gain, with 610 rigs drilling for oil this week, 8 more than the previous week. One fewer rig was gas-directed this week, leaving 157 rigs working.
Texas led the US rebound with 365 rotary rigs working, 5 more than last week. Wyoming is up 3 to 22 and Ohio’s rig count increased by 2 to reach 12 rigs working. Louisiana and Pennsylvania each gained a rig to reach 63 and 24 rigs running, respectively.
New Mexico dropped 4 rigs to leave 109 units working for the week. Colorado and Alaska each dropped a single rig to exit the week with 20 and 9 rigs running.
Canada's rig count increased by 1 this week and by 48 over last year. Two additional rigs were drilling for oil this week in Canada for a total of 150 rigs working, 52 more than this time last year. Gas-directed rigs were down a single rig to 66, and down 4 from this time last year.