US rig count at low point as decline slows

New York

TWO weeks of thin declines in the US rig count have raised expectations that drilling activity is nearing a pivotal level that could dent production, bolster prices and coax idle rigs back to the field after a precipitous cull since October.

Energy producers responded quickly to a steep drop in oil prices over the last six months, idling nearly 800 rigs, or 50 per cent, since a peak of 1,609 rigs in October. In the last week of January, rigs fell by 94, the biggest drop on record, according to a weekly survey by oil service firm Baker Hughes.