The US drilling rig count fell 3 units to 936 rigs working during the week ended Jan. 19, data from Baker Hughes indicate. This total is up 242 units from a year ago.
Offshore units remained unchanged this week, with 19 working in the Gulf of Mexico. A total 916 rigs were drilling on land, down 3 units from last week. The number of rigs drilling in inland waters remained unchanged at 1 unit.
Rigs targeting oil fell 5 units to 747 but were still up from the 551 rigs drilling for oil a year ago this week. Gas-targeted rigs were up this week to reach 189 units, 2 units more than a week ago. This time a year ago, 142 were drilling for gas.
Among the major oil and gas-producing states, Colorado and Ohio saw the largest drop in rigs week-over-week. Both states lost 4 rigs, bringing total units to 32 and 23, respectively. North Dakota, Utah, and Alaska were down 1 rig each to respective counts of 44, 11, and 5.
Wyoming gained 3 rigs from last week to 15 rigs working. West Virginia stands at 15 rigs, up 2 units from last week. Four states are up 1 rig from last week, namely Texas, 453; New Mexico, 82; Louisiana, 62; and Pennsylvania, 37.
Unchanged were Oklahoma at 121, California at 14, and Arkansas at 0.
Canada gained 49 units to 325 rigs from a week ago. There are 17 less rigs working than this week a year ago. Oil-directed rigs rose 23 units this week to 208, while those targeting gas increased 26 units to 117.