The US’s overall drilling rig activity remained flat this week, but that included a jump in oil drilling offset by a drop in natural gas development.
Oil drilling activity picked up in a wide range of areas from Alaska to Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, while the number of rigs in West Texas’ booming Permian Basin actually declined by four, according to weekly data collected by Houston’s Baker Hughes oilfield services firm.
Meanwhile, gas-seeking rigs were taken offline in states like Louisiana, West Virginia and Ohio.
A net total of seven new oil-drilling rigs were added across the country, which was balanced out by the seven-rig decline in gas activity.
Texas also stayed flat overall with the Permian dip offset by small increases in other parts of the state like South Texas’ Eagle Ford shale and the Panhandle’s Granite Wash region.
Oil drilling currently accounts for 798 rigs of the total. The oil rig count last exceeded 800 in April 2015.
U.S. oil was selling above $61 a barrel in early afternoon trading in New York.
West Texas’ Permian Basin now accounts for 433 rigs, which is more than half of all the nation’s oil rigs. The next most active area is the Eagle Ford with 70 rigs. Texas is home to 479 rigs overall, while Oklahoma is second with 123 rigs. New Mexico is next with 85 rigs.
Despite this week’s jump, the oil rig count is down 50 percent from its peak of 1,609 in October 2014, before oil prices began plummeting.
This article first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. For more from the Houston Chronicle click here.