HOUSTON – The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by one this week to 1,060.
At this time a year ago there were 916 active rigs.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported Friday that 861 rigs drilled for oil this week and 197 for gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma added two rigs, and Colorado, Texas, and Wyoming each added one.
Louisiana lost two rigs. New Mexico and North Dakota each lost one.
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and West Virginia were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.