A big surge in oil-directed drilling, headlined by gains in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, helped lift the U.S. rig count 14 units higher to 728 during the week ended Friday (May 20), according to the latest figures published by Baker Hughes Co. (BKR).

shale

Thirteen oil-directed rigs were added in the United States for the week, along with one natural gas-directed rig. The 728 active U.S. rigs as of Friday compares with 455 rigs running in the year-earlier period, according to the BKR numbers, which are partly based on data from Enverus.

All of the net gains for the week were in land drilling; the Gulf of Mexico held steady at 17 rigs for the period. Thirteen horizontal rigs were added, along with one directional unit, while vertical rigs were unchanged at 25.

The...