Baker Hughes Rig Count Heads Right Direction (BHI, OIH)

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) has released its weekly rig counts and you might not even have noticed that oil had fallen if you looked solely at the higher rig counts.

The company noted that the U.S. Rig Count grew by 12 to 1986 rigs, broken down by oil rigs rising by 10 rigs and to 1382 rigs and even gas rigs were up 2 at 600 rigs.  The Rig Count is now up 156 rigs from last year at 1830, with oil rigs up 428 and gas rigs down 266.  The U.S. Offshore rig count was 47, which is up 2 from last week and up 16 year over year.

The rig count in Canada grew by 3 to 123 rigs, broken down as oil rigs rising by 6 to 76 rigs and the gas rigs were down 3 rigs to a total of 47 rigs. The Canadian rig count is down 20 rigs from last year at 143 rigs, broken down by oil rigs up 3 rigs and gas rigs down 23.

Baker Hughes is still way down from its peak with a 50% sell-off from its 52-week high of $81.00, but shares today are down 0.3% at $40.65.  The 52-week low is $39.40.

The Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (AMEX: OIH) is down 0.7% at $35.53, so Baker Hughes is actually down a tad less than its peers.

JON C. OGG