HOUSTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States increased by nine to 1,059 this week, or 112 more than that this time last year, according to the weekly data released by the Baker Hughes on Friday.
The number of rigs operating in U.S. oil fields grew by 10 to 862 rigs this week, and more than half of them were located in the Permian Basin region of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The number of gas drilling rigs decreased by one to 197 rigs.
The Houston-based oilfield services company reported that the number of land drilling rigs increased by nine to 1,038 rigs. The number of inland waters drilling rigs fell by one to one rig, while the number of offshore drilling rigs increased by one to 20 rigs.
The number of directional drilling rigs increased by four to 59 rigs, the number of horizontal drilling rigs increased by three to 932 rigs, while the number of vertical drilling rigs increased by two to 68 rigs.
The U.S. state of New Mexico led the increase with four rigs, and North Dakota increased by three rigs. Texas decreased the most by four rigs to 517 rigs.
Oil prices extended gains on Friday as concerns over tighter global supply amid the threat of U.S sanctions on Venezuelan oil sector outweighed surging U.S. stockpiles.
The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery climbed 56 U.S. cents to settle at 53.69 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery rose 55 cents to close at 61.64 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
