US oil and natural gas rig count drops by 67 to 1,125, Texas down 37, with oil price slump

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 67 this week to 1,125 amid depressed oil prices.

Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday that 866 rigs were seeking oil and 257 exploring for natural gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous. The count is down from 1,809 rigs active a year ago.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost 37 rigs, Louisiana declined by seven, Oklahoma was down five, North Dakota and Ohio four each, New Mexico and Wyoming three apiece, Colorado two, and Alaska, Kansas and Utah by one each.

West Virginia gained one rig. Arkansas, California and Pennsylvania were unchanged.

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