The US drilling rig count was down 19 units to 916 for the week ended Aug. 23, according to Baker Hughes data. The count is down 128 units from this time a year ago when the count stood at 1,044.
One additional unit was drilling offshore this week with 28 rigs working. A total of 887 rigs were drilling on land, down 20 units from last week. The number of rigs drilling in inland waters was unchanged at 1 unit.
US oil-directed rigs were down 16 units this week to 754 and down 106 units from the 860 rigs drilling for oil this week a year ago. Gas-directed rigs were down 3 units and now total 162. This time a year ago, 182 units were drilling for gas.
Among the major oil and gas-producing states, West Virginia saw the largest increase in rigs with a 3-unit gain to reach 19. The only other state with an increase, Kansas gained its only running rig this week.
Five states remained unchanged this week: North Dakota, 48; Wyoming, 37; California, 18; Ohio, 12; and Utah, 7.
Pennsylvania dropped 6 rigs for the week to reach 35. The rig counts in Texas and Colorado both fell by 4 units to reach 446 and 28, respectively.
Oklahoma dropped 3 rigs to 82 units drilling for the week. New Mexico and Alaska each dropped two units to reach 109 and 8, respectively.
With a single unit drop, Louisiana saw 61 rigs working for the week.
Canada’s rig count fell by 3 units from a week ago with 139 rigs working. There are 90 fewer rigs working than this week a year ago. With 95 oil-directed rigs running for the week, there were 6 fewer than the week prior. Gas-directed rigs gained 3 units to reach 44.