US rig count drops by 1 this week to 935

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by one this week to 935.

That's still up from the 511 rigs that were active a year ago.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 744 rigs sought oil and 190 explored for natural gas this week. One was listed as miscellaneous.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana gained three rigs.

Alaska, New Mexico, and Texas each gained one rig. North Dakota and Oklahoma lost three rigs each, and Colorado lost two rigs.

California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, 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.