12 a rig hand works on an electric drilling rig for oil producer civitas resources at the denver suburbs in broomfield colorado us december 2 2021 picture taken december 2 2021 reutersliz hampton april 14 reuters  oil and gas activity in the us midwest and mountain west states declined in the first quarter and is expected to continue to slow according to a survey released on friday by the federal reserve bank of kansas city the first quarters drilling and business activity index decreased to 13 from 6 according to the survey which polls energy firms operating in producing states like colorado wyoming oklahoma and the northern half of new mexico revenues and profits continued to decline significantly and are expected to continue contracting said chad wilkerson a senior vice president at the bank the results mirror a survey the federal reserve bank of dallas released last month which said activity was stalling in the largest us shale field in texas and oil executives outlooks across the region were souring us oil prices have been volatile in the past month swinging from around 64 a barrel in midmarch over concerns of a banking crisis to back over 80 a barrel after opec announced a surprise production cut effective next month west texas intermediate wti futures were trading around 8245 a barrel on friday above the 64 a barrel executives said was needed for drilling to be profitable but the outlook for future drilling and business activity also fell to 13 from 19 in the latest survey a lot of uncertainty with the price of oil operators are taking a pause to see how the next 34 months play out said one unnamed survey respondent drilling for gas isnt even part of the conversation we continue to hear from operators that steelcasing cost are still too high with availability limited natural gas was trading around 210 per million british thermal unit mmbtu on friday far below 345 per mmbtu needed for drilling to be profitable reporting by liz hampton in denver editing by josie kao