Natural gas drilling inches higher in U.S. as oil slides

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The U.S. natural gas rig count rose one unit to 156 for the week ended Friday, while the loss of one rig in the oil patch left the combined domestic tally unchanged at 779, reports Natural Gas Intelligence.

Drilling totals on land and in the Gulf of Mexico both held flat for the period. A four-rig increase in directional rigs was offset by a four-rig decline in horizontal drilling.

The combined 779 active U.S. rigs as of Friday compares with 586 rigs running in the year-earlier period, according to the BKR numbers, which are partly based on data from Enverus. Read the entire story.