HOUSTON – The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by two this week to 1,062.
At this time a year ago there were 927 active rigs.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported Friday that 862 rigs drilled for oil this week and 198 for gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas added three rigs, Colorado increased by two and Louisiana gained one.
Oklahoma and Wyoming declined by two rigs each and North Dakota decreased by one.
Alaska, Arkansas, California, New Mexico, 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.