There’s not much money in new well drilling these days. In fact, the latest figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API) reveal a 70 percent annual decline in new natural gas well completions along with a staggering 90 percent drop in new oil wells as of the start of April. The drop hardly comes as a surprise, especially in the light of the continual reduction in active drilling rigs across the U.S. as reported on a weekly basis by Baker Hughes. As of April 8 , there were 354 active oil rigs—8 fewer than the week before, and 406 fewer than a year ago. The number of active gas rigs was 89, down from 225 on April 8, 2016. Given the low oil and gas prices that have pushed many energy firms to the brink of bankruptcy, these developments were only to be expected, although they are certainly worrying […]