US rig count falls this week by 1 to 940

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by one this week to 940.

A year ago, just 431 rigs were active.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 756 rigs sought oil and 184 explored for natural gas this week.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained one rig. Alaska and Colorado each lost one.

Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, 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.