Drilling rig count keeps dropping

Oil and natural gas drilling continued to slow this week as companies slashed budgets and mothballed another 27 rigs.

The U.S. rig count dropped Friday to 514, its lowest level since 1999, according to Baker Hughes. The count is down 73 percent from 1,929 on Nov. 21, 2014.

The rig count has tumbled by 150 since the first of the year as continued low oil and natural gas prices have led companies to slash drilling budgets for 2016. The U.S. count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.

The number of rigs searching for

LAND SALES

oil this week tumbled by 26 to 413, while natural gas rigs dipped by one to 101.

In Oklahoma, operators laid down three drilling rigs, cutting the state count to 73, its lowest level since November 2009. The state level is down 66 percent since Nov. 26, 2014.

Price falls below $30

Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.13, or 3.7 percent, Friday to close at $29.64 a barrel. Despite Friday’s fall, the oil price finished the week 17 percent higher than it started.

Lower oil prices continued to weigh on energy stock prices, driving most of the sector lower this week. Shares of Oklahoma Citybased Devon Energy Corp. set a new 52-week low of $18.07 Friday morning before recovering somewhat and closing at $18.65, down $1.05, or 5.3 percent, on the day.

The oil price has weighed on the industry for the past 20 months and is down 73 percent over the past 20 months. The price gained some ground early this week on reports that several of the world’s largest oil producers were working on a deal to freeze production levels.

Prices fell again over the past few days, however, following news that the effort apparently has not gained the support of Saudi Arabia or Iran.

Also this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said the country’s storage levels continue to fill as domestic oil production still is outpacing demand.