US drilling rig count down 4 to 1,925

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by four the week ending Nov. 7 to 1,925.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report that 1,568 rigs were drilling for oil and 356 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,754 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained five rigs, Kansas increased two and North Dakota and Pennsylvania were up one each.

New Mexico lost four, Louisiana and West Virginia each dropped three and Alaska, Ohio and Utah declined by one apiece.

Arkansas, California, Colorado, Oklahoma and Wyoming were unchanged.

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

- Associated Press