US rig count up 1 to 1,855

HOUSTON (AP) -- Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by one this week to 1,855.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report Friday that 1,528 rigs were exploring for oil and 323 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,769 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained three rigs, Kansas increased by two and Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado and New Mexico each gained one.

Wyoming lost four rigs, Oklahoma lost three, North Dakota lost two and West Virginia lost one.

Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah were unchanged.

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