Rigs targeting oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by five to 1,913 this week, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) Oil rigs gained one to 1,589, gas rigs rose five to 321, and miscellaneous rigs decreased by one to three, the Houston-based field services company said in an e-mail. Rigs rose the most in the Denver-Julesburg Basin and Niobrara formation spread across Colorado and Wyoming . The total has surged from 1,757 this year as producers use horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to draw record volumes of oil and gas out of shale formations across the middle of the country. The boom will raise domestic crude production next year to the highest level since 1972, the Energy Information Administration said in a report Aug. 12. U.S. oil production jumped 103,000 barrels a day, or 1.2 percent, in the week ended Aug. 8 to 8.56 million, Energy Information […]

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