US rig count drops by 13 in past week, Canadian count up by 23

Rig count by Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes rig count shows a decrease in the number of rigs in the United States and an increase in the Canadian rig count.  Baker Hughes photo.

HOUSTON_In its weekly rig count, Baker Hughes reported a drop in rig counts in the United States and an increase in rigs in Canada for a third consecutive week.

The number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the United States this past week was 637, down from 650 last week.  In the week prior, there were 510 oil rigs and 127 gas rigs operational in the US.

Texas went from 301 rigs to 294, reporting the highest decline in operational rigs last week.  One year ago, there were 753 oil and gas rigs running in Texas.

Pennsylvania registered three fewer rigs while Kansas, New Mexico and North Dakota all reported two fewer rigs.  California lost one rig and Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming all remained even.

In the Gulf of Mexico, there were 29 rigs operational, an increase by three, while Alaska gained two rigs, bringing its count to 11.

Meanwhile in Canada, the number of oil rigs reported to be operation was 134, up by 24 while there was one less gas rig, bringing the total number of gas rigs in Canada to 116.

A year ago, there were 223 oil rigs and 209 gas rigs operational in Canada.

The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.