HOUSTON – Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by one this week to 1,761.
The Houston-based company said in its weekly report Friday that 1,387 rigs were exploring for oil and 369 for gas. Five were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,817 rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained six rigs, West Virginia gained five, North Dakota gained two and Kansas, Louisiana and Wyoming each gained one.
California lost five rigs, Oklahoma lost four, Pennsylvania lost three, New Mexico lost two and Arkansas and Colorado each lost one. Alaska, Ohio and Utah were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
