HOUSTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States decreased by 34 to 374 this week, down by 614 year on year, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
These active drilling rigs included 292 oil rigs operating in the U.S. oil fields, down by 33 from the previous week; 80 gas drilling rigs, down by one, and two miscellaneous rigs, unchanged from last week.
The 374 rigs included 359 land drilling rigs, down by 33 from the previous week, and 15 offshore drilling rigs, down by one from the previous week. There was no inland waters drilling rig this week, same as last week.
Of them, 27 are directional drilling rigs, 338 are horizontal drilling rigs and 9 are vertical drilling rigs.
During the week, the number of drilling rigs decreased the most by 28 in the state of Texas to 173 rigs. The state of North Dakota also lost six rigs.
By far, the Permian Basin in western Texas and eastern New Mexico has been the largest source of shale oil production growth in the United States, having become an engine of supply growth outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the past years. Enditem
