US rig count drops 1 to settle at 1,761

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs actively drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped by one the week ending Feb. 22 to 1,761.

The Houston-based company said in its weekly report that 1,329 rigs were actively drilling for oil and 428 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, Baker Hughes counted 1,981 working rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states Pennsylvania gained six rigs, Texas rose by five and Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado and West Virginia each increased by one. Oklahoma lost nine rigs, North Dakota shed four, Wyoming decreased by two and Louisiana and New Mexico each dropped one. California remained unchanged.

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

—Associated Press