US rig count down by 11 this week to 898; Oklahoma loses 8

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by 11 this week to 898.

That's up from the 569 rigs that were active a year ago.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 729 rigs sought oil and 169 explored for natural gas this week.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Colorado added four rigs, Texas gained three, while Alaska tacked on two.

Oklahoma lost eight rigs and Louisiana shed four. New Mexico and North Dakota both lost a pair, while Utah dropped one.

Arkansas, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming were unchanged.

The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.