US drilling rig count up 11 to 1,925

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 11 the week ending Sept. 5 to 1,925.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report that 1,584 rigs were drilling for oil and 340 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,767 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained seven rigs, New Mexico and Pennsylvania each gained two and Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming each gained one.

Kansas lost two rigs and Colorado lost one.

Alaska, California, Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, 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