U.S. oil drillers, facing the lowest crude prices in five years and rising competition from suppliers abroad, idled the most rigs since 2012. Rigs targeting oil declined by 37 to 1,499 in the week ended Dec. 26, the lowest since April, Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said on its website today, extending the three-week decline to 76. Those drilling for natural gas increased by two to 340, the Houston-based field services company said. The total rig count, which includes one miscellaneous rig, dropped 35 to 1,840, also an eight-month low. The number of rigs targeting U.S. oil is down from a record 1,609 following a $55-a-barrel drop in global prices since June, threatening to slow the shale-drilling boom that’s propelled domestic production to the highest in three decades. As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resists calls to cut output, U.S. producers including Continental Resources Inc. and ConocoPhillips plan to […]