US drilling rig count up 6 to 1,803

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by six the week ending March 28 to 1,809.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report that 1,487 rigs were drilling for oil and 318 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,748 active rigs.

Major oil- and gas-producing states with week-over-week rig count increases include Texas up eight, Oklahoma up five, Alaska and West Virginia each up three and Colorado and New Mexico, each up two.

States with a week-over-week decrease in rig count include Pennsylvania down five, California down four, Louisiana and Wyoming each down three and North Dakota, Ohio and Utah, each down one. Arkansas and Kansas remain unchanged from the previous week.

Texas, at 866, has the largest number of rigs active, followed by Oklahoma at 188, North Dakota at 178 and Louisiana at 105.

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

—Petroleum News