Drilling activity in North America increased this week as the Canadian drilling rig count continued to rise.

There were 814 rigs drilling in the US and Canada for the week ended Oct. 2, up 7 from last week, Baker Hughes officials reported Friday.

There were 216 rigs working in Canada this week, an 8-rig increase from last week. Canada has grown its rig count by 11 the week prior. Of those 216 rigs running, 149 were oil-directed, up 4 from last week. There were 66 rigs drilling for gas in Canada, up 4 from the previous week.

There were 598 rigs drilling in the US and its waters, down 1 unit from last week. The count is 49 units higher than this time last year. The number of rigs drilling on land decreased by 2 units to end the week at 586. There were 2 rigs drilling in inland waters, down 1 from last week. Two additional rigs were drilling offshore, increasing the total number of rigs working offshore to 10.  

Two fewer rigs were drilling for gas in the US this week, bringing the weekly total to 133. There were 456 units drilling for oil this week, up 1 from last week. Nine rigs were unclassified, unchanged from last week.

Texas dropped 3 rigs to end the week with 278 rigs working. The count is still 34 units higher than this time last year.

Louisiana and Wyoming each added a rig, ending the week with counts of 36 and 17, respectively.