US drilling rig count gains 19 to 1,025

Petroleum News

The number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 19 the week ending April 5 to 1,025.

A year ago the count was 1,003 active rigs.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported that 831 rigs targeted oil (up 15 from the previous week) and 194 targeted natural gas (up four).

The company said 70 of the U.S. holes were directional, 901 were horizontal and 54 were vertical.

Among major oil and gas producing states, Texas, the most active state with 499 rigs, was up eight from the previous week.

West Virginia was up four rigs and New Mexico was up three.

Alaska and Colorado were each up two rigs.

North Dakota was up by one rig.

California, Louisiana and Wyoming were unchanged.

Oklahoma and Pennsylvania were each down by one rig.

Baker Hughes shows Alaska with eight active rigs, unchanged from a year ago.

The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May 2016 at 404.

- Petroleum News