US natgas rig count resumes slide, down 5 for week

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States resumed its downward track, falling 5 to 687 this week, according to a report on Friday by oil services firm Baker Hughes in Houston.

U.S. natural gas drilling rigs have been in a mostly steady decline since peaking above 1,600 in September, but last week the count unexpectedly rose by 7 to 692, the first gain since November 2008.

Sources said new rigs in some prolific shale plays, such as Haynesville in Louisiana or Marcellus in Appalachia, may have been the reason for the unexpected gain.

The number of operating gas rigs now stands at 843 rigs, or 55 percent, below the same week last year, when there were some 1,530 active rigs looking for gas.

Reuters