Mumbai, March 30 -- The number of oil and gas rigs actively drilling in the U.S. fell by 9 to 543, declining a second week in a row for the first time since mid-January, Baker Hughes said Friday in its latest survey. During the week ended March 27, the number of active drilling rigs targeting crude oil in the U.S. fell by 5 to 409, gas rigs shed 4 to 127, and 7 rigs remained classified as miscellaneous. The total rig count was down by 49, or 8.3%, from the same time last year.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Capital Market....