HOUSTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States increased five to 461 rigs this week, up by 182 year on year, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.

These active drilling rigs included 365 oil rigs operating in the U.S. oil fields, up by six from the previous week; 96 gas drilling rigs, down by one from the previous week. There was no miscellaneous rig.

The 461 rigs included 447 land drilling rigs, up by five from the previous week. There was one inland water rig and 13 offshore drilling rigs, both unchanged from last week.

Of them, 24 are directional drilling rigs, 420 are horizontal drilling rigs and 17 are vertical drilling rigs.

During the week, the state of Texas gained the most by three rigs, reaching 219 rigs in total.

By far, the Permian Basin in western Texas and eastern New Mexico has been the largest source of shale oil production growth in the United States, having become an engine of supply growth outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the past years.

The United States has become a major oil producer in the past years with the help of its shale oil production growth. Meanwhile, China continues to be one of the biggest oil consumers of the world.

According to the release from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, China's crude oil output grew 3.4 percent year on year to 16.41 million tonnes in April. China imported 40.36 million tonnes of crude oil in the same month, down 0.2 percent year on year. Enditem

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