As crude oil prices hit more than $90 a barrel on Friday, the number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. showed a slight increase while Oklahoma’s count was unchanged.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count released on Friday indicated the U.S. total grew by one to 551 and the breakdown reflected an increase of 4 oil rigs, reaching a total of 411. The Number of gas rigs in the nation dropped by 2 to 132 while the miscellaneous count fell by one to 8. The offshore count gained one to reach 18 total.
Oklahoma’s count remained at 45 with no change from the previous week as the western part of the state continued seeing drilling for oil and gas. A year ago, the state’s rig count, as Baker Hughes report, was 49.
Texas added 6 rigs to reach 236 while New Mexico recorded a decline of 2 at 100. In North Dakota, the count declined one to 25 and Louisiana recorded a similar drop, leaving 36 still active. The Independent Oil and Gas Service’s Red Top Rig Report in Kansas showed a gain of 3 rigs to reach 11 in the state. It also reported that drilling activity has decreased by 54.5% in the Eastern Ranges and 61.7% in the Western Ranges of the State.
Colorado remained at 14 active rigs while Alaska was unchanged at 11 and California stayed at 7 rigs. Ohio’s count fell by 2 to 11 rigs but Pennsylvania’s total was unchanged at 20. Utah remained at 16 rigs while West Virginia added one rig to reach 18 and Wyoming remained at 17 rigs total.
The nation’s total active rig count remained 41 fewer than a year ago when the count was 592. The decline included 75 oil rigs while there was an increase of 31 gas rigs and a gain of 3 miscellaneous rigs.