The number of rigs searching for oil and natural gas in the United States rose by eight to 1,270 during the week ending June 1, according to oil services firm Baker Hughes. Last year the number of U.S. rigs on exploration was 866, Baker Hughes said. Meanwhile, the number of rigs exploring for oil and gas in Canada rose 28 to 291, compared to 270 last year.
The number of rigs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico fell by seven to 158, compared to 130 a year ago.
The number of rigs searching on land rose by 15 to 1,082, while the number of offshore rigs rose by three to 165. The number of in
land rigs remained steady at 23.
The total North American rig count gained 36 to 1,561 compared to last year's 1,136. The number of rigs searching for oil rose by one to 231, while the number of rigs searching for gas rose by seven to 1,037. There were two miscellaneous rigs, unchanged from last week.
Directional rigs numbered 314, down two, horizontal rigs numbered 84, up three, while rigs exploring vertically rose by seven to 872.
The states with the largest variances in rig count were Oklahoma and Texas, with gains of seven and three respectively.