HOUSTON – The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by two this week to 1,048.
At this time a year ago there were 958 active rigs.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported Friday that 861 rigs drilled for oil this week and 186 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Pennsylvania gained two rigs. Alaska, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia each increased by one.
Louisiana lost four rigs. Ohio and Oklahoma each decreased by one.
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May 2016 at 404.