ENERGY

Oil Rig Count Declines: The number of working oil and gas rigs in the United States dropped by 14 this week to 638, Baker Hughes Inc. said. The decline follows a series of gains during the past three weeks. This week’s tally also lags far behind the 846 rigs working at the same time last year. About a month ago, the count hit a record low of 623. The weekly count is the widely watched index of drilling activity and represents the number of rigs actively exploring for petroleum and natural gas, not those producing oil and gas.