US drilling rig count 1,045, down 14 rigs

Petroleum News

The number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. was down by 14 the week ending Feb. 1 to 1,045.

At this time last year there were 946 active rigs.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported that 847 rigs targeted oil (down 15 from the previous week) and 198 targeted natural gas (up one).

The company said 57 of the U.S. holes were directional, 925 were horizontal and 63 were vertical.

Among major oil and gas producing states, North Dakota was up one rig.

California, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wyoming were unchanged.

Louisiana was down one rig.

Texas, the state with the most rig activity, was down three rigs to 514.

Alaska and Oklahoma were each down four rigs.

Baker Hughes shows Alaska with seven active rigs, up from five a year ago.

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

- Petroleum News