Natural-gas firms are drilling more wells despite the gas prices falling.

For the first time, natural gas was off below $5 a million British thermal units this week since December and is off 14% since the beginning of the year.

In 2009, Chesapeake Energy Corp., EOG Resources Inc. and Southwestern Energy Co. Southwestern posted a net loss of $35.7 million, even though its fourth-quarter earnings were up 51 percent to $158 million.

But, companies are mounting spending and drilling wells. Baker Hughes Inc. revealed that the number of drilling rigs which creates holes in the ground, searching for natural gas onshore in the U.S. increased by 12 to 905 rigs this week, despite the price falling.

Gas production in the 48 states has decreased 1.2 percent in February 2009, and increased a little in December from the previous year, showed figures released Friday.

Demand for drilling rigs has made service provider to increase their prices, decreasing profit margin for producers, revealed Jon Wolf, an energy analyst with Credit Suisse in New York.