rig count

The U.S. natural gas rig count finished unchanged at 72 rigs during the week ending Friday (Sept. 4), while a modest increase in oil activity helped keep the overall domestic tally on an uptrend, the latest data from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) show.

The U.S. rig count gained two units overall to reach 256, including the addition of one oil-directed rig and one miscellaneous unit. 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 total...