National rig count down by 4 to 1,044

Associated Press

The number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. decreased by four the week ending Aug. 3 to 1,044.

At this time a year ago there were 954 active rigs.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported that 859 rigs targeted oil this week (down two from the previous week) and 183 targeted gas (down three). Two were listed as miscellaneous (up one).

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Wyoming gained two rigs and Louisiana and Pennsylvania each increased by one.

West Virginia lost three rigs, Colorado and New Mexico each decreased by two and Alaska and North Dakota each lost one.

Arkansas, California, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah were unchanged.

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

404.