US rig count stable this week, down in Canada

Rig count provided by Baker Hughes

Rig count remains steady in the US, but drops by 12 in Canada.  Nexen photo.

In its weekly report on the number of rigs exploring for oil and gas, Oilfield services company Baker Hughes says the US rig count held firm at 709.

In Canada, however, the number of operating rigs dropped by 12 to 162.

Breaking down the results, the number of US oil rigs jumped by 17 to 541, while the number of gas rigs dropped by 17 to a total of 168.

The biggest gains in oil rigs was seen in West Virginia where three new rigs were working.  Alaska, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma each saw one new rig.  On the downside, Wyoming showed one less rig, Louisiana lost two rigs while Pennsylvania and Texas were both down four rigs.

The overall US rig count this week is down 1166 from this time last year when 1875 rigs were exploring for oil and natural gas.

Meanwhile, in Canada, there were two fewer oil rigs and 10 fewer gas rigs operational.

The overall number of operational rigs in Canada this week is down to 162, a drop of 229 from a year ago today.

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