HOUSTON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States decreased by 35 to 339 this week, down by 648 year on year, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
These active drilling rigs included 258 oil rigs operating in the U.S. oil fields, down by 34 from the previous week; 79 gas drilling rigs, down by one; and two miscellaneous rigs, unchanged from last week.
The 339 rigs included 327 land drilling rigs, down by 32 from the previous week; and 12 offshore drilling rigs, down by three from the previous week. There was no inland waters drilling rig this week, same as last week.
Of them, 22 are directional drilling rigs, 307 are horizontal drilling rigs, and 10 are vertical drilling rigs.
During the week, the number of drilling rigs decreased the most by 23 in the state of Texas to 150.
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. Enditem
