Fall in US rig count no obstacle to booming oil output

New York

THE US drilling frenzy is over. What's not is the boom in oil production.

While companies have idled 151 rigs in five shale formations since reaching a peak of 1,157 in October, they'll need to park another 200 for growth to stall, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Output there will reach a record 5.47 million barrels a day in March even though the number of rigs exploring for oil is the lowest since 2013.