Oil Services Shares Dip As Rig Counts Slide

ERNEST SCHEYDER

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of oil services companies dropped Monday as Wall Street absorbed yet another bad report on the number of operating crude and natural gas rigs.

Last Thursday, Baker Hughes said the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States fell by 38 last week to 1,005. A year ago, the rig count stood at 1,815. The U.S. count is down roughly 50 percent since the end of August as weak energy demand has hampered oilfield activity.

The markets were closed Friday, so Monday is the first chance Wall Street has had to react to the news.

Shares of Baker Hughes fell $1.14, or 3.8 percent, to $29.83 in morning trading; shares of Smith International Inc. fell $1.05, or 4.4 percent, to $23.09; and shares of Nabors Industries Ltd. fell 65 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $11.79.

Elsewhere, shares of Devon Energy Corp. fell $1.29, or 2.6 percent, to $47.62; shares of EOG Resources Inc. fell $1.04 to $60.31 and shares of Helmerich & Payne Inc. fell 67 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $28.30.