U.S. Oil Explorers Scale Back Drilling as Shale Weakness Emerges

  • Streak of weekly declines is longest since the spring of 2016
  • Domestic crude-output forecast reduced by government analysts
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Oil explorers settled into the deepest drilling hibernation in more than a year as the U.S. shale patch struggles to maintain its explosive growth.

Working oil rigs fell by one this week to 833, according to data released Friday by oilfield-services provider Baker Hughes. The four-week decline is the longest since May 2016.