The US oil rig count rose by 9 to 712 in the week ending Friday, up from 318 a year ago, Baker Hughes said in its weekly report.
The US natural gas rig count fell by one to 172, up from 87 rigs a year ago.  The total US oil and gas rig count was 885 for the week, eight higher than a week ago, and 479 rigs higher than a year ago.  There was one miscellaneous rig working this week, flat from last week and flat from a year ago.  Horizontal rigs operating in the US rose by eight week on week to 742, and was up from 315 a year ago. The vertical rig count rose by one on the week to 77, but was 24 higher than a year ago. Directional rigs totaled 66, down one from a week ago and 28 higher than a year ago.  There were 21 US offshore rigs operational this week, up two from last week and down one from a year ago.  Canada’s rig count fell by two to end the week at 80, but was up from 43 rigs operating the same week a year ago. Canada’s oil rig count rose by two on the week to 29, while the gas rig total fell by four to 51.