HOUSTON, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States fell to 762 this week, down by three from the previous week and up by 229 from this time last year, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
These active drilling rigs included 602 oil rigs operating in U.S. oil fields, down by two from the previous week; 158 gas rigs, down by one from last week; and two miscellaneous rigs, the same as last week.
The rigs included 746 land drilling rigs, three inland water drilling rigs, and 13 offshore drilling rigs.
Of them, 41 were directional drilling rigs, 698 were horizontal drilling rigs and 23 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.
