US drilling activity increased by 4 units to 623 rotary rigs working this week, down from 761 the same period a year ago, officials at Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday.
Gas operations accounted for the gain, up 4 rigs to 121. Oil-directed rigs were unchanged at 499, with unclassified also holding steady at 3.
There were 602 rigs drilling on land this week, a 2-rig increase from last week. There were 741 rigs drilling on US lands during the year-ago period. The number of rigs drilling offshore increased by 2 to reach 21 working for the week. The total is down 3 from the 18 rigs drilling offshore this time last year.
Directional drilling decreased by 2 to reach 51 rigs this week; vertical drilling was unchanged at 12 rigs. The horizontal rig count increased by 2 to 560 rigs working this week.
Rig counts in New Mexico and Louisiana increased. With a 2-rig gain, the states ended the week with 101 and 45 rigs working, respectively. Pennsylvania’s rig count increased by 2 to 23. California added a single rig to end the week with 6 working rigs.
Texas’s rig count fell by 2 during the week to 301. Oklahoma and Utah each dropped a single rig to reach respective counts of 41 and 12.
Canada's rig count was unchanged with 232 units drilling for the week. There were 250 rigs drilling in Canada this time last year.