Washington, Jan 20 (Agency) The number of active drilling rigs in the United States increased to 620 this week, up by one from the previous week but down by 151 from last year, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes. These active drilling rigs included 497 oil rigs operating in the U.S. oil fields, down by two from the previous week; 120 gas drilling rigs, up by three from last week; and three miscellaneous rigs, unchanged from last week.
The rigs included 600 land drilling rigs, zero inland water rigs, and 20 offshore drilling rigs. Of them, 48 are directional drilling rigs, 560 are horizontal drilling rigs, and 12 are vertical drilling rigs. So 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 Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the past years.