HOUSTON, April 29 (Internews): The number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose to 755 this week, up by two from the previous week and 57 from a year ago, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oil field services company Baker Hughes.
These active drilling rigs included 591 oil rigs operating in the U.S. oil fields and three miscellaneous rigs, both unchanged from the previous week; and 161 gas drilling rigs, up by two from last week.
The rigs included 733 land drilling rigs, two inland water rigs, and 20 offshore drilling rigs.
Of them, 47 are directional drilling rigs, 685 are horizontal drilling rigs and 23 are vertical drilling rigs.
So far, the Permian Basin in western Texas and southeastern 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.
