HOUSTON – The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. decreased by seven this week to 1,052.
At this time a year ago there were 941 active rigs.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported Friday that 862 rigs drilled for oil this week and 188 for gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Alaska gained two rigs and Wyoming added one.
Louisiana lost four rigs and Oklahoma decreased by two. Colorado, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas each lost one.
Arkansas, California, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah and West Virginia were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.