Rigs targeting U.S. oil slid to the fewest in two years as explorers retreated from North Dakota’s Bakken formation at the fastest pace since the nation’s shale boom took off. The U.S. oil rig count dropped by 49 this week to 1,317, the lowest since Jan. 25, 2013, Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said on its website Friday. The total count fell by 43 to 1,633. North Dakota, home of the Bakken play that doubled its crude output within two years, lost the most rigs since at least 2008 with prices under $50 a barrel. Oil rigs have dropped by an unprecedented 258 in seven weeks, threatening to end the surge in domestic oil production that has turned the U.S. into the world’s largest fuel exporter. The booming production, out of shale formations across the country, has OPEC and other foreign suppliers fighting to preserve their market share. Eight hundred […]