Mar. 29—The rig count in the Permian Basin was up one this week, the latest count Thursday by Baker Hughes shows, with 316 rigs active in the region. A year ago, 352 rigs were active in the region.

Nationally, the oil and gas rig count is down three from last week at 621 rigs. A year ago, 755 rigs were active. The count shows that 506 rigs sought oil, down three from the previous week, and 112 explored for natural gas, unchanged 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 Thursday at $79.65 per barrel, up $2.54 from last Friday's close. National benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $83.17 per barrel, up $2.54 from the previous week.