The number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and gas in North Dakota declined nearly 4 percent from last week, state data show.

North Dakota reported 73 rigs in active service as of Monday, down from the 76 reported one week ago. The exploration and production side of the North Dakota, measured by rig counts, is slower by more than half from this date in 2014, when 190 rigs were deployed across the state.

Rig deployments were near historic highs in 2012, with 215 reported.

North Dakota is the second largest oil producer in the nation and, while diversified, its economy depends in part on the surge of oil taken from shale basins in the state.

State government data show oil production for May, the last full month for which data are available, was 1.2 million barrels per day, its second highest rate ever and 32,000 bpd above April's average rate.

The all-time high was 1.22 million bpd was reported in December 2014. As oil prices tumbled below the $50 per barrel market in early 2015, production in North Dakota followed suit. The low-water mark for 2015 was 1.16 million bpd in April.

The rig count in late April was around 84.

More than 90 percent of all rigs active in North Dakota are in the Bakken and Three Forks shale areas in the state. Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Industrial Commission, said operators are trying to do more with less in state shale basins.

"Operators continue to experiment with running one to two fewer rigs than their planned 2015 minimum to see if drill times and efficiencies will continue to improve," he said in a statement.