Active Rig Count - July 24

[dan_s]

Overall rig counts reached a nearly two-month high this week, with Baker Hughes (ticker: BHI) reporting 876 rigs active in the United States for the week ended July 24, 2015, up 19 rigs from last week. The news came after three weeks of small increases from the week ended June 26 to the week ended July 10, and a six rig drop last week.

The 19 rig increase this week represents the largest build in the number of rigs drilling in the U.S. since rig counts began their precipitous decline last year. The number of rigs drilling for oil increased by 21 to 659 this week, while the number of rigs drilling for gas fell by two after a one-rig gain last week.

The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. peaked at 1,609 in October, 2014.

Most of the U.S. additions to the rig count were made in the Permian and Haynesville, which added three machines for a total of 245 and 29, respectively, and the Cana Woodford and Eagle Ford, which both added two rigs to their totals. The Eagle Ford is back at 100 active rigs after dropping into the double-digits for the first time indicated in the BHI data. No rigs were lowered in any of the major basins this week.

Canada continued gains seen over the past two weeks, adding eight rigs to their totals. Canada’s gains this week were at a slower pace than was seen previously, which may reflect a seasonal slowdown in the country’s drilling season.