09 February 2013 – The count of rigs exploring in the US for oil and gas dropped by five this week to total 1759, according to the weekly tally by Houston service firm Baker Hughes.
The number of oil rigs working dropped by two to 1330, while the count of gas units fell by three to 425.
That compares to 1263 oil rigs and 720 gas rigs working a year ago.
Louisiana saw the greatest change in its rig count, adding five over the week to total 111. Pennsylvania also added two to its count for a total of 71.
New Mexico dropped three rigs for a total of 76, while North Dakota and Texas each lost two for totals of 178 and 824 respectively.
Alaska, West Virginia and Wisconsin all dropped a rig for totals of 8, 23 and 46 respectively.
Counts in Arkansas, California and Oklahoma stayed flat at 16, 34 and 196 respectively.
*Kathrine Schmidt