US rig count: Fell by 67 last week to 1,125

According to latest US rig count, Texas lost 37 rigs

The US rig count fell again last week, but not by as much as Canada, and the international rig count actually increased.

US rig count data supplied by Baker Hughes.

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 67 this week to 1,125 amid depressed oil prices.

Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday that 866 rigs were seeking oil and 257 exploring for natural gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous. The count is down from 1,809 rigs active a year ago.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost 37 rigs, Louisiana declined by seven, Oklahoma was down five, North Dakota and Ohio four each, New Mexico and Wyoming three apiece, Colorado two, and Alaska, Kansas and Utah by one each.

West Virginia gained one rig. Arkansas, California and Pennsylvania were unchanged.

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

The Canadian rig count declined by 80 from 220 the week prior and by 302 from this time last year.

The international rig count increased by 17 to 1,275 between January and February, but was down 66 from this time last year.

Baker Hughes has issued the rotary rig counts since 1944, when Hughes Tool Company began weekly counts of U.S. and Canadian drilling activity. Hughes initiated the monthly international rig count in 1975.