US oil and natural gas rig count drops by 75 to 1,192 with oil prices down

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 75 this week to 1,192 amid depressed oil prices.

Baker Hughes said Friday 922 rigs were seeking oil and 268 were exploring for natural gas, with two listed as miscellaneous. The count is down from a year ago, when 1,792 rigs were active.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost 32 rigs; New Mexico, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania lost seven each; Colorado lost five; North Dakota lost three; Kansas, Louisiana and Utah lost two; and California, Ohio and Wyoming each lost one. Alaska and Arkansas were unchanged, while West Virginia gained one rig.

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