The U.S. natural gas rig count fell by one to 97 units for the week ended Friday (Aug. 9), while an increase in oil rigs sent the combined domestic tally up two units to 588, according to updated Enverus and Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) data.
The 97 U.S. natural gas rigs as of Friday compared with 123 rigs running in the year-earlier period. The three oil rigs added week/week brought oil-directed units to 485, 40 rigs below the prior-year number.
Land drilling was up by three wee/week domestically to 569 rigs, while the number of units in the Gulf of Mexico was down one on the week. Directional and horizontal rigs were each up by one week/week, while vertical rigs held steady at 17.
The Canadian rig count ended the period at 217 rigs, down two units on the week and 27 more than counted during the same week a year earlier, the data show. Gas rigs were unchanged at 69, while oil rigs were down by three versus the prior week to 147. One miscellaneous unit was added.
Looking at changes by drilling region, the DJ-Niobrara, the gassy Marcellus Shale and Permian Basin added one rig each, raising their totals to 10, 25 and 304 rigs, respectively. DJ-Niobrara had 14 units, Marcellus had 31, and the Permian count was at 327 rigs operating a year earlier.
On the opposite side of the ledger, the Haynesville Shale shed two rigs, and the Utica Shale lost one unit. The 32 rigs operating in Haynesville were 12 fewer than those operating at the same time last year. The Utica’s 10 units were down from 12 a year ago, according to the data.
Counting by state, Texas and Wyoming each added two rigs from the prior week, increasing their respective counts to 276 and 14 units. Texas rigs were down 36 on the year, while Wyoming had seven fewer units operating than in the year prior. Colorado and Pennsylvania each added one rig from the prior week, bringing the totals to 14 rigs and 21 rigs in the states, respectively.
Conversely, at 38 rigs, there were two fewer units in Louisiana week/week and 10 fewer than in the year-earlier period. New Mexico and Ohio each lost one rig on the week. New Mexico had 107 rigs operating, down six from the prior year, while the 10 rigs in Ohio were down from 12 the same time last year.
