US oil and natural gas rig count increases by 1 to 863

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by one this week to 863.

Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday 645 rigs were seeking oil and 217 explored for natural gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, 1,875 rigs were active.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained five rigs, New Mexico rose by four and California, Colorado and Ohio each gained one.

North Dakota lost six rigs, Kansas and Pennsylvania each decreased by two and Louisiana, Utah and West Virginia each lost one.

Alaska, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming were unchanged.

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