Driven by gains in natural gas-directed drilling, the U.S. rig count ticked two units higher to 758 during the week ended Friday (July 22), updated numbers from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) show.

drilling

The United States added two natural gas-directed rigs for the period, while total oil-directed rigs went unchanged week/week at 599. The 758 active U.S. rigs as of Friday compares with 491 rigs running in the year-earlier period, according to the BKR numbers, which are partly based on data from Enverus.

Offshore rigs increased by two overall for the period, with the Gulf of Mexico count rising one unit to end the week at 14. Total land rigs held steady at 738. Domestic gains included one horizontal rig and one vertical rig, with directional drilling unchanged week/week.

The Canadian rig...