Utah steady as U.S. rig count declines by 12

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Houston • While the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week declined by 12 to 775, Utah was one of five states where drilling activity was unchanged.

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 578 rigs were seeking oil and 197 explored for natural gas. A year ago, with oil prices about double the prices now, 1,929 rigs were active.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost seven rigs, Oklahoma six, Louisiana two and North Dakota, Ohio and West Virginia one each.

Kansas and New Mexico each added two rigs, while Alaska and Pennsylvania gained one each.

Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, California and Arkansas were unchanged.

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