US rig count down 7 to 1,764

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 seven this week to 1,764.

The Houston firm said in its weekly report Friday that 1,423 rigs were exploring for oil and 337 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,762 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, California gained five rigs, New Mexico gained three and Kansas, Ohio and West Virginia each gained one.

Texas lost five rigs, Louisiana declined by four, Oklahoma lost three, Colorado lost two and Pennsylvania and Wyoming each dipped by one. Alaska, Arkansas, North Dakota and Utah were unchanged.

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