Rig Count Up by 12 Week May 21, 2010

By Richard Stubbe and Moming Zhou

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- The total U.S. rig count rose for the fourth straight week as natural gas rigs gained the most in 11 weeks, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website.

The total rig count rose by 12 to 1,518, the highest level since January 2009. The gain was the 12th in 13 weeks.

The number of natural-gas rigs climbed by 18, or 1.9 percent, to 969, the biggest increase since the week ended March 5. The rig count is four below the one-year high of 973 set on April 16.

Natural gas for June delivery fell for a fourth day, down 7.1 cents, or 1.7 percent, to settle at $4.035 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have declined 28 percent this year.

Oil rigs declined for the first time in three weeks, dropping by six to 538. The oil rig count has tripled from the one-year low of 179 set in June 2009.

Crude oil for July delivery dropped for a ninth day, down 76 cents, or 1.1 percent, to settle at $70.04 a barrel.

Horizontal rigs, which are mostly used for drilling shale gas, rose six to 782, and vertical rigs gained two to 504.

Texas gained 11 rigs to 654. Oklahoma added five rigs to 129, and New Mexico added two rigs to 65.

Alaska lost one rig to seven. The number of rigs in North Dakota was unchanged at 99.

Rigs on land gained 12 to 1,457. Offshore rigs were unchanged at 49, and those in inland waters were also unchanged at 12.

Canada gained 52 rigs to 173.

--Editors: Richard Stubbe, Bill Banker.

To contact the reporters on this story: Richard Stubbe in Dallas at rstubbe1@bloomberg.net; Moming Zhou in New York at Mzhou29@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net.