In its weekly release, Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. ( BHI - Analyst Report ) reported a rise in the U.S. rig count (number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the country). This upside can be attributed to an increase in the tally of both oil and gas-directed rigs.

The Baker Hughes rig count, issued since 1944, acts as an important yardstick for drilling contractors such as Transocean Inc. ( RIG - Analyst Report ) , Diamond Offshore ( DO - Analyst Report ) , Noble Corp. ( NE - Analyst Report ) , Nabors Industries ( NBR - Analyst Report ) , Patterson-UTI Energy ( PTEN - Analyst Report ) , Helmerich & Payne ( HP - Analyst Report ) , etc. in gauging the overall business environment of the oil and gas industry.

Analysis of the Data

Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in exploration and production in the U.S. totaled 1,809 for the week ended November 16, 2012. This was up by 3 from the previous week’s rig count and indicates the second increase in as many weeks.

The current nationwide rig count is more than double than that of the 6-year low of 876 (in the week ended June 12, 2009) though it is way below the prior-year level of 2,001. It rose to a 22-year high in 2008, peaking at 2,031 in the weeks ending August 29 and September 12.

Rigs engaged in inland waters activity climbed by 3 to 19, while land operations and offshore drilling remained steady at 1,740 and 50 rigs, respectively.

Natural Gas Rig Count: The natural gas rig count recovered from a 13-year low – increasing for the second time in 3 weeks – to 417 (a gain of 4 rigs from the previous week). Despite the weekly improvement, the number of gas-directed rigs is down 55% from its 2011 peak of 936, reached during mid-October.

In fact, the current natural gas rig count remains 74% below its all-time high of 1,606 reached in late summer 2008. In the year-ago period, there were 871 active natural gas rigs.

Oil Rig Count: The oil rig count – which was at a 25-year high of 1,432 in August – inched up by 1 to 1,390. The current tally is way above the previous year’s rig count of 1,125. It has recovered strongly from a low of 179 in June 2009, rising almost 8 times.

Miscellaneous Rig Count: The miscellaneous rig count (primarily drilling for geothermal energy) at 2 was down by 2 from the previous week.

Rig Count by Type: The number of vertical drilling rigs rose by 2 to 510, while the horizontal/directional rig count (encompassing new drilling technology that has the ability to drill and extract gas from dense rock formations, also known as shale formations) was up by 1 to 1,299. In particular, horizontal rig units – that reached an all-time high of 1,193 in May this year – increased by 1 from the last week’s level to 1,105.

Zacks Rank: Among the companies mentioned above, Transocean, Diamond Offshore, Noble, Nabors, Patterson-UTI Energy and Helmerich & Payne are all Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) stocks, implying that these are expected to perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

However, Baker Hughes retains a Zacks #4 Rank, which translates into a short-term Sell rating.