Number of active U.S. drilling rigs down this week

HOUSTON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States dropped to 659 this week, down by five from the previous week and by 105 from this time last year, according to the weekly data released by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes on Friday.

These active drilling rigs included 525 oil rigs operating in U.S. oil fields, down by four from the previous week; 128 gas rigs, unchanged; and six miscellaneous rigs, down by one.

The rigs included 635 land drilling rigs, five inland water drilling rigs, and 19 offshore drilling rigs.

Of them, 53 were directional drilling rigs, 585 were horizontal drilling rigs and 21 were vertical drilling rigs.

So far, the Permian Basin in western Texas and eastern New Mexico has been the largest source of shale oil production growth in the United States, having become an engine of supply growth outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the past years.