Economics
Worst Year for Rigs in Quarter Century Closes With a Whimper
- Observers expect downward trend in rig utilization to persist
- Rig counts rose in only two of 14 basins tracked in report
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Oil explorers shut down more rigs in U.S. fields to finish out the worst year for drilling cutbacks in almost three decades.
Rigs targeting crude in the U.S. fell by 2 to 536 in the past week, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Thursday. Natural gas rigs were unchanged at 162, bringing the total of working rigs to 698. Drillers searching for oil this year idled the largest proportion of their rig fleet since at least 1988.