Offshore rigs up 4 in US Gulf

Offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico increased by 4 this week, increasing the total US offshore rig count to 21, officials at Baker Hughes reported Friday.

Twelve rigs were operating in the US Gulf of Mexico for the week ended Oct. 24. 

Total US drilling increased slightly, with 550 rotary rigs working this week, up 2 from last week but down 35 from 585 a year ago, officials said.

Activity in US inland waters decreased by 1 unit to 2, while the US land rig count dipped by 1 to 527.

There were 199 rotary rigs drilling in Canada this week, up 1 from last week and down 17 from the 216 units that were working during the same period a year ago.

The number of rigs drilling for oil in the US increased by 2 to 420. There were 121 US rotary rigs drilling for natural gas, unchanged from last week, and 9 rigs were unclassified, also unchanged from last week. US directional drilling increased by 2 to 53 units. Horizontal drilling declined by 1 to 485.

Drilling increased in Louisiana by 3 rigs to 40, and Wyoming’s rig count was up 2 to 14. Texas and Colorado each dropped a single unit to end the week with 236 and 14 rigs working, respectively.