Utah unchanged as U.S. has eight fewer drill rigs

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Houston • The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by eight this week to 787, oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday.

Utah was one of seven states in which the rig count was unchanged.

Baker Hughes said 595 rigs were seeking oil and 192 explored for natural gas. A year ago, with oil prices about double the prices now, 1,918 rigs were active.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, New Mexico lost five rigs, Oklahoma and Texas each declined by two and Colorado and North Dakota each lost one.

Louisiana gained three rigs, Wyoming added two and California one.

Utah, Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia were unchanged.

The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.