HOUSTON, Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- PATTERSON-UTI ENERGY, INC. (NASDAQ: PTEN) today reported that for the month of December 2013, the Company had an average of 187 drilling rigs operating in the United States and 9 rigs in Canada. For the three months ended December 31, 2013, the Company had an average of 183 drilling rigs operating in the United States and 9 rigs in Canada.

Average drilling rigs operating reported in the Company's monthly announcements represent the average number of the Company's drilling rigs that were operating under a drilling contract. The Company cautioned that numerous factors in addition to average drilling rigs operating can impact the Company's operating results and that a particular trend in the number of drilling rigs operating may or may not indicate a trend in or be indicative of the Company's financial performance. The Company intends to continue providing monthly updates on drilling rigs operating shortly after the end of each month.

About Patterson-UTI

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. subsidiaries provide onshore contract drilling and pressure pumping services to exploration and production companies in North America. Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC and its subsidiaries have more than 275 marketable land-based drilling rigs and operate primarily in oil and natural gas producing regions in the continental United States, Alaska, and western and northern Canada. Universal Pressure Pumping, Inc. and Universal Well Services, Inc. provide pressure pumping services primarily in Texas and the Appalachian region.

Location information about the Company's drilling rigs and their individual inventories is available through the Company's website at www.patenergy.com.

Statements made in this press release which state the Company's or management's intentions, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, deterioration of global economic conditions, declines in customer spending and in oil and natural gas prices that could adversely affect demand for the Company's services, and their associated effect on rates, utilization, margins and planned capital expenditures, excess availability of land drilling rigs and pressure pumping equipment, including as a result of reactivation or construction, adverse industry conditions, adverse credit and equity market conditions, difficulty in integrating acquisitions, shortages of labor, equipment, supplies and materials, supplier issues, weather, loss of key customers, liabilities from operations, changes in technology and efficiencies, governmental regulation and ability to retain management and field personnel. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, which may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC. These filings are also available through the Company's web site at http://www.patenergy.com or through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval System (EDGAR) at http://www.sec.gov. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE PATTERSON-UTI ENERGY, INC.