US rig count declines by 4 this week to 936

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by four this week to 936.

That's up from the 524 rigs that were active a year ago.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 748 rigs sought oil and 187 explored for natural gas this week. One was listed as miscellaneous.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma gained three rigs and Colorado added one.

Texas lost three rigs, Pennsylvania and Wyoming lost two each, and Louisiana shed one rig.

Alaska, Arkansas, California, New Mexico, North Dakota, 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.