U.S. drillers dropped seven rigs overall during the week ended Friday (May 5), with cuts focused in Texas and the Permian Basin in particular, the latest numbers from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) showed.

rigs

Declines of four natural gas-directed rigs and three oil-directed rigs saw the combined domestic tally finish the period at 748, versus 705 in the year-earlier period. Land drilling declined by eight rigs overall, partially offset by the addition of one rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

Nine horizontal rigs and two vertical rigs packed up shop for the week, partially offset by the addition of four directional units, according to the BKR numbers, which are partly based on data from Enverus.

The Canadian rig count, meanwhile, finished unchanged at 93, up slightly from 91 active rigs at...