Canadian rig contractor Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) reported a smaller quarterly loss on Thursday, helped by a 36-per-cent rise in the number of active rigs in the United States.
Revenue from rig utilization per day was up marginally to US$20,603 in the U.S., while it rose 3.8 per cent to $22,209 in Canada.
Precision Drilling's average rig count in the U.S. rose to 64 from 47 in the year-ago quarter. The company had 72 active rigs in Canada on average, down from 76 a year ago.
"As a result of increased demand in our U.S. operations, we are increasing our projected capital spending by $22 million," Precision Chief Executive Kevin Neveu said, adding that about half the addition would be used to expand and upgrade the drilling fleet.
Net loss narrowed to $18.1 million, or six cents per share, in the first quarter ended Mar. 31, from net loss of $22.6 million, or eight cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose to $401 million from $368.7 million.
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