US drilling rig count up 5 to 1,913

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose five the week ending Aug. 15 to 1,913.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report that 1,589 rigs were exploring for oil and 321 for gas. Three were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,791 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Wyoming gained seven rigs, Colorado was up four, Louisiana, North Dakota and West Virginia three each, and Alaska one.

Texas declined by seven rigs, Oklahoma and Utah were down two each, and California and Ohio both decreased by one.

Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania were unchanged.

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

- Associated Press