U.S. Oil Rig Count Climbs This Week

The latest data from Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) shows that drilling rig counts in North America rose by 15 from a week ago and fell by 318 from the comparable period a year ago. In the U.S., the number of rigs rose from 1,753 last week to 1,764 for the week ending today. That's down 233 from the same period a year ago.

The Canadian rig count rose from 621 to 625 in the week, but has fallen by 85, from 710, year-over-year.

The number of U.S. oil rigs rose by 17 in the week, to 1,332, while the number of natural gas rigs fell by 6 to 428. In Canada, the oil rig count fell by 1 to 473 and the gas rig count rose by 5 to 152 for the week. For the year U.S. natural gas rigs have dropped by 317 and Canadian natural gas rigs have fallen by 42. The U.S. oil rig count is up by 87 compared with a year ago, to 1,315, and the Canadian oil rig count is down by 42, to 474.

Among U.S. states, Texas saw its rig count rise by 7 week-over-week to 826, and Oklahoma's count rose by 6, to 196. Lousiana's count fell by 3 to 106. For the year, the Texas count is down by 88, while Louisiana is down by 29 and Pennsylvania is down by 45.

U.S. oil rig counts have dropped from 1,408 at the end of October to 1,332 as of today, down 5%. The gas rig count is up from 416 to 428, a rise of about 3%. The slowdown could be due in large part to higher drilling costs which forced less drilling in the last few months of 2012. Today's oil rig count is the first substantial gain since October.

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