The number of rigs targeting oil in the U.S. shrank this week by the most since 2012 as crude trades at a seven-month low and drillers redirect equipment to focus on the most profitable plays. Oil rigs tumbled by 25 this week to 1,564, the lowest level in a month and the largest drop since Dec. 21, 2012, data posted on Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) ’s website today show. Those targeting gas meanwhile jumped to the highest in five months, the Houston-based field services company said. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude declined for a fifth week, the longest losing streak in nine months. Lower prices threaten to halt a surge in the oil rig count as energy producers use a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to draw record volumes out of shale formations from North Dakota to Texas. The shale boom has raised domestic production to […]