US drilling rig count up 1 to 1,929

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by one the week ending Nov. 21 to 1,929.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report that 1,574 rigs were drilling for oil and 355 for gas. A year ago there were 1,761 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma gained seven rigs, Texas increased by four, Pennsylvania was up three and Alaska and Louisiana increased one each.

Colorado declined by five, North Dakota was down four, Kansas and Wyoming dropped two apiece while New Mexico and Ohio each lost one.

Arkansas, California, Utah and West Virginia were unchanged.

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

- Associated Press