US rig count increases by 1 this week to 944

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by one this week to 944.

That's up from the 508 rigs that were active a year ago.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 756 rigs sought oil and 187 explored for natural gas this week. One was listed as miscellaneous.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, New Mexico added three rigs. North Dakota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia each gained one.

Alaska lost two rigs. Arkansas, Colorado and Louisiana were down one rig each.

California, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming were all unchanged.

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