UPDATE 1-U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for 4th week on weak crude-Baker Hughes

(Adds natgas and basin details in paragraphs 4 and 7)
By Scott DiSavino
Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a
fourth week in a row this week, data showed on Friday, a sign
the continued weak prices were causing energy firms to reduce
drilling plans.
Drillers removed four oil rigs in the week ended Sept. 25,
bringing the total rig count down to 640, the lowest since July,
after cutting a total of 31 rigs over the three prior weeks, oil
services company Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) Inc BHI.N said in its closely
followed report.
That compared with 1,592 oil rigs in the same week a year
ago and an all-time high of 1,609 in October 2014.
Combined with the reduction in natural gas rigs, total U.S.
rigs were at a 12-year low. Natural gas rigs were down one this
week to 197, up just one from its lowest level since at least
1987, according to the Baker Hughes data.
The reductions over the past few weeks have cut into the 47
oil rigs that energy firms added in July and August after some
drillers followed through on plans to add rigs announced in May
and June when U.S. crude futures CLc1 averaged $60 a barrel.
U.S. oil futures this week however were averaging $45 a
barrel for a third week in a row, near the lowest levels for the
year on continued lackluster global demand and lingering
oversupply concerns.
In the country's major shale basins, drillers this week cut
three oil rigs in both the Permian in West Texas and eastern New
Mexico and the Eagle Ford in South Texas and one in the Bakken
in North Dakota and Montana. The Niobrara in Colorado and
Wyoming remained unchanged.
On Friday, U.S. crude prices were up about 1 percent,
following gains in Wall Street stocks on stronger revised U.S.
economic data. O/R
Despite the short-term price gain on Friday, U.S. oil
production has declined over the past several weeks due to the
weak crude market.
U.S. oil output last week held around 9.1 million barrels
per day (bpd) for a third week in a row, according to government
data. That was down from average production of 9.6 million bpd
from late May to mid-July, which was the highest output since
the early 1970s.
"The current rig count is pointing to U.S. production
declining sequentially between the second quarter and the fourth
quarter of 2015 by 255 thousand barrels a day," analysts at
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said in a note.