Drilling Activity on the Rise at Home and Abroad as U.S. Adds More Rigs

The U.S. rig count gained two units to reach 256 for the week ending Friday (Sept. 4), putting the domestic tally on a modest uptrend over the past month, the latest data from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) show.

The United States added one oil-directed rig and one miscellaneous rig during the week, while natural gas-directed drilling remained unchanged at 72 rigs, according to BKR. 

The Covid-19 pandemic decimated drilling activity earlier this year, but the U.S. count has now added 12 rigs since bottoming at 244 during the week ending Aug. 14. The 256 active U.S. rigs as of Friday still represents a sharp decrease from the 898 rigs running in the year-ago period.

Land drilling remained unchanged overall during the period, while the Gulf of Mexico added two rigs to grow its...