Jun. 21—The rig count in the Permian Basin was down one this week, the latest count Friday by Baker Hughes shows, with 308 rigs active in the region. A year ago, 341 rigs were active in the region.

Nationally, the oil and gas rig count is down two from last week at 588 rigs. A year ago, 682 rigs were active. The count shows that 485 rigs sought oil, down three from the previous week, and 98 explored for natural gas, unchanged from the previous week. The count also shows five miscellaneous rigs, up one from the previous week.

The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in August of 2020 at 244.

The regional benchmark Plains-West Texas Intermediate Posting ended Friday at $77.21 per barrel, up $2.28 from last Friday's close. National benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $80.73 per barrel, up $2.28 from the previous week.