US drilling rig count down 44 to 728
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Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Baker Hughes reports the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. the week ending March 27 was 728, down by 44 from the previous week, eclipsing a 20-rig drop that week, and down by 278 from 1,006 a year ago.
In its weekly rig count the Houston oilfield services company said 624 rigs targeted oil, down 40 from the previous week and down by 192 from a year ago, while 102 targeted natural gas, down four from the previous week and down 88 from a year ago. There were two miscellaneous rigs active, unchanged from the previous week and up by two from a year ago.
The company said 47 of the holes were directional, 653 were horizontal and 28 were vertical.
Only a single state, Utah, had an increase in active rigs, up by one to eight.
The rig count in Texas, the state with the most active rigs at 368, was down by 29 from the previous week.
Oklahoma was down by four rigs (to 39). Louisiana (at 44) and New Mexico (at 109) were each down by three rigs from the previous week.
Colorado (at 19) and North Dakota (at 48) were each down by two rigs.
Alaska (9) and Wyoming (19) were each down by one rig.
Rig counts were unchanged from the previous week in California (12 rigs), Ohio (nine rigs), Pennsylvania (24 rigs) and West Virginia (15 rigs).
The nine-rig count Baker Hughes shows for Alaska for the week ending March 27 is up by three from a year ago.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May 2016 at 404.
- KRISTEN NELSON
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