HOUSTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States increased by one to 856 this week, down 207 rigs year-on-year, according to the weekly data released by Baker Hughes on Friday.
According to the Houston-based oilfield services company, these active drilling rigs included 712 oil rigs operating in the U.S. oil fields, up two from the previous week; 143 gas drilling rigs, down one from the previous week and the miscellaneous rig remained at one.
Of the 856 rigs, 831 are land drilling rigs, up one from the previous week, and offshore drilling rigs and inland waters drilling rig remained level at 24 and one, respectively.
The number of drilling rigs increased the most by six to 420 ones in the state of Texas, while Pennsylvania lost the most with four to 32 ones.
Oil prices rose sharply on Friday, as investors closely watched the latest development of the two explosions that hit Iranian oil tanker in Red Sea, which spurred fears over disruption in crude production in the region.
The West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rallied 1.15 U.S. dollars to settle at 54.70 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery rose 1.41 dollars to close at 60.51 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
