The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday.

The number of total oil and gas drilling rigs in the US fell by 1 to 539, the 14th decline in the past 15 weeks for the domestic rig count, Baker Hughes reported.

Esso Australia, ExxonMobil’s Australian subsidiary, has started drilling for the nearly $200 million Kipper 1B project, which ...