Dec 27, 2013 1 min read

HOUSTON — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 11 this week to 1,756.

Baker Hughes, of Houston, Texas, said in its weekly report Friday that 1,382 rigs were exploring for oil and 374 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, there were 1,763 active rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Pennsylvania gained one rig, Alaska two and Louisiana one.

Texas declined by 10 rigs, West Virginia was down by four and Oklahoma by two. Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming were unchanged.

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