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HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week declined by 16 to 848.
Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday that 652 rigs were seeking oil and 196 explored for natural gas. A year ago, with oil prices about double the prices now, 1,931 rigs were active.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, only Alaska posted an increase, up one.
Texas lost nine rigs, Colorado and Louisiana declined by two, and Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming were down one apiece.
Arkansas, California, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia all were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
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