Added

The U.S. added five rigs for the week ended Friday, with new rigs in Utah and Louisiana leading the way in onshore gains for the week ended Friday, according to the latest tally by Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI).

Drillers in the Sooner State stepped up their game during the week just ended and handily beat usual rig-growth favorite Texas.

U.S. drillers added just one land-based rig during the week ending Friday, according to Baker Hughes Inc. Another rig rejoined the offshore fleet to make for an overall gain of two. Oil rigs were favored over gas as one industry analyst said gas production needs to step up in the months ahead.

Seventeen rigs returned to land-based U.S. action during the week ending Friday, and 11 of the those joined the ranks of units already running in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The Permian count stood at 229 at week’s end, four more rigs than were running in the play one year ago.

U.S. oil rig activity has climbed back to a level that is almost 84% of what it was one year ago; however, natural gas rigs have only managed to reach 60% of their year-ago tally. The most recent rig count by Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) didn’t help the natural gas census any.

The U.S. land rig count fell by a modest seven units in the latest tally by Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI).

The last rig count of 2015 saw no change in the tally of operating natural gas rigs in the United States. But the U.S. oil rig count dropped by two, according to Baker Hughes Inc.

Recent declines in the weekly U.S. rig count ended Friday with a splat rather than a bounce. The Baker Hughes Inc. count of active U.S. oil and natural gas rigs was static at 787 units.

U.S. natural gas drilling activity is but 58% of what it was a year ago, according to the latest rig census from Baker Hughes Inc., which was released Friday.