US drilling rig count down by 11 to 1,757

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 11 the week ending Dec. 27 to 1,757.

The Houston company said in its weekly report that 1,382 rigs were drilling for oil and 374 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,763 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Alaska gained two rigs and Louisiana and Pennsylvania each gained one.

Texas declined by 10 rigs, West Virginia was down by four and Oklahoma by two. Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming were unchanged.

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

— Associated Press