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The number of rotary rigs drilling for gas in the United States fell by five rigs to 1,030 while total rigs drilling for oil and gas were up by one, Baker Hughes reported on Friday. The number of rotary rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico rose by six to 140 but are down 15 from last year, the company reported.

Much of the market seemingly was put on hold Tuesday as flat to slightly higher numbers prevailed. Tropical Storm Chantal continued to recede as a potential threat to Gulf production, and hot weather demand remained generally light outside the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast and Midcontinent areas. Mostly, though, the market was reported as very quiet as the trading community awaited this afternoon’s first release of new AGA storage data since last week’s bombshell of a low volume.

Global Marine last week reported the first decline in 23 months in its June Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics (SCORE) for the Gulf of Mexico. The SCORE report measures the profitability of drilling operations. Global Marine Chairman Bob Rose said softening jackup rates due to declining natural gas prices have “taken a toll on the Gulf SCORE.” However, strong oil prices have “continued to fuel improvement in international offshore rig markets.”

Global Marine reported the first decline in 23 months in its June Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics (SCORE) for the Gulf of Mexico. The SCORE report measures the profitability of drilling operations. Global Marine Chairman Bob Rose said softening jackup rates due to declining natural gas prices have “taken a toll on the Gulf SCORE.” However, strong oil prices have “continued to fuel improvement in international offshore rig markets.”

Bolstered by a futures gain of slightly more than a quarter but not much else other than expectations of more robust fundamentals, cash prices rebounded across the board Monday. Every point was up around 20 cents or more, with western increases tending to be much larger and hitting triple digits in California. Rockies numbers were on the high side of $2 again after having dipped below that level for the weekend.

Prices emerged from the weekend flat to slightly higher or lowerMonday at nearly all points outside the declining California andRockies/San Juan markets. There probably would have been moreeastern softness, sources said, if weather in the Northeast andMidwest hadn’t exhibited more of a tendency to retreat back intowinter, rather than press forward into spring. Even the South wasseeing more chill than normal for this time of year.

Slightly constructive long-lead weather forecasts and animportant technical signal prompted natural gas futures to arrestdownward momentum yesterday and eke out a narrow gain in a quietsession. Many traders elected to wait on the sidelines for aclearer price picture to develop.

With California acting as the out-of-step market yet again,overall swing prices ranged from flat to moderately higher Monday,with Pacific Northwest points achieving gains of 12-20 cents. Awinter storm that developed over the Upper Plains during theweekend was moving eastward and was largely responsible for themild post-weekend rally, sources said.

Kern River expects its receipts to be “slightly impacted” asAmoco’s Painter Plant near Evanston, WY performs maintenance thatwas to begin Sunday and continue through next Sunday.