NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell this week as producers continued to scale back drilling activity amid slumping energy prices.

The number of oil and gas rigs fell to 945, down 10 from the previous week, according to rig data from oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI). The number of gas rigs was 741, a drop of one rig from last week, while the oil rig count dropped to 196, a decrease of six rigs. The number of miscellaneous rigs decreased by three to eight rigs.

The number of gas rigs in use peaked at 1,606 in September.

Natural gas prices have plummeted about 76% from summer highs amid robust production from U.S. onshore natural gas fields and shrinking demand. Large industrial consumers have scaled back gas use to cut costs during the recession. In response to falling gas prices, producers such as Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) and Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) have slashed their spending plans and rig counts to curb the flow of new gas supplies into the market.

Gas for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was recently up 16.7 cents, or 4.94%, at $3.54 a million British thermal units.

-By Christine Buurma, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2061; christine.buurma@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2009 13:32 ET (17:32 GMT)

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