Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by two this week to 1,929.
The Houston firm said Friday in its weekly report that 1,582 rigs were exploring for oil and 346 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,742 active rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Kansas gained five rigs, Oklahoma increased four, Pennsylvania gained three and Louisiana gained two.
Texas lost five rigs, New Mexico lost three and Ohio and West Virginia each lost two. Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
