SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 18: US drillers have taken a record number of oil rigs out of service in the past six weeks as Opec's sustained production sent prices below $50 a barrel.
The oil rig count has fallen by 209 since Dec 5, the steepest six-week decline since Baker Hughes began tracking the data in July 1987. The count fell by 55 this week to 1,366.
Horizontal rigs used in US shale formations that account for virtually all of the nation's oil production growth fell by 48, the biggest single-week decline.
Analysts including HSBC Holdings say the decline shows that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is winning its fight for market share and slowing the growth that's propelled US production to the highest in at least three decades. Opec's decision not to curb its output amid increasing supplies from the US and other countries has driven global oil prices down 58 per cent since June.
"Opec's strategy is working, and it will be obvious in US production by midyear when growth from shale plays will come to a halt," James Williams, president of energy consulting company WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas, said by telephone Friday. "You can imagine the impact on any industry from a 50pc impact on sales."
West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose $2.44 to settle at $48.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 33 cents for the week, the first gain since November.
    ?Washington Post