Baker Hughes Says US Oil And Gas Rig Count Rises

Oil services company Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI)(FREE stock trend analysis) said its data revealed that the total number of oil and gas rigs active in the US rose this week by 20 to 1,161.

Of that total, 757 are gas rigs, 393 are oil and 11 fall into the miscellaneous category.

Although natural gas drilling had tapered off significantly due to lower prices, the number of active rigs has slowly risen due to demand for heating in a cold winter season. This trend benefits both the gas and oil segments.

According to BHI, the number of active gas rigs peaked in September of last year, when the figure stood at 1,606.