US rig count down 6 to 1,803

HOUSTON (AP) -- Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by six this week to 1,803.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report Friday that 1,473 rigs were exploring for oil and 326 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,746 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana gained five rigs, California increased by three and North Dakota and Pennsylvania each rose by two. New Mexico and Utah were up one.

Texas declined by 10, Oklahoma by three and Ohio and West Virginia by two. Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming were unchanged.

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