HOUSTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States decreased by one to 790 this week, down by 248 year on year, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
These active drilling rigs included 678 oil rigs operating in the U.S. oil fields, down by one from the previous week; 110 gas drilling rigs and two miscellaneous rigs, unchanged from last week.
The 790 rigs included 767 land drilling rigs, down by one from the previous week; 22 offshore drilling rigs and one inland waters drilling rig, unchanged from last week.
Of them, 46 are directional drilling rigs, 708 are horizontal drilling rigs and 36 are vertical drilling rigs.
During the week, the number of drilling rigs decreased the most in Oklahoma by three, to 48 rigs, while Texas led the gain with three, to 400 rigs.
The number of vertical drilling rigs in the country increased by four, down by 24 rigs year on year, while the number of directional rigs increased by one, down by 21 rigs year on year. The only loss this week saw are six horizontal drilling rigs, and the count of horizontal drilling rigs in the country was down 203 year on year.
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.
