US rig count down by 5 to 924

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by five this week to 924.

That exceeds the 665 rigs that were active this time a year ago.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported on Friday that 742 rigs were drilling for oil and 182 for natural gas this week.

Among oil- and gas-producing states, Wyoming gained two rigs and New Mexico and Texas each gained one.

Louisiana lost six rigs, Oklahoma declined by two and North Dakota lost one.

Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 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.