US drilling rig count down 17 to 1,896

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell 17 the week ending Aug. 22 to 1,896.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report that 1,564 rigs were drilling for oil and 330 for natural gas. Two rigs were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,776 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Kansas gained two rigs while the rig count in Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia and Wyoming each rose by one.

Texas declined by 13 rigs, Alaska was off three, North Dakota was down two and California, Colorado, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania dropped one apiece.

New Mexico, Ohio and Utah were unchanged.

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

- Associated Press