HOUSTON — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by six this week to 1,776.
The Houston-based company said Friday in its weekly report that 1,401 rigs were exploring for oil and 369 for gas. Six were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,924 active rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma gained five rigs; Texas gained three rigs; Colorado gained two; and California and West Virginia each added one.
Kansas and North Dakota each lost three rigs, and Alaska, New Mexico and Pennsylvania each lost one. Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming were each unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
