U.S. rig count declines by 10 this week to 757

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Houston • Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week declined by 10 to 757.

But Utah was one of six states — along with Alaska, Arkansas, California, Kansas and New Mexico — that were unchanged.

Baker Hughes said 564 rigs were seeking oil and 193 explored for natural gas. A year ago, with oil prices almost double the prices now, 1,929 rigs were active.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana and Oklahoma each lost four rigs, Colorado and Wyoming three, West Virginia two and Ohio one.

Texas gained four rigs, Pennsylvania gained two and North Dakota increased by one.

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