The number of U.S. oil-drilling rigs, which is a proxy for activity in the oil industry, had fallen sharply since oil prices headed south last year. Oil prices fell nearly 60% from June 2014 to a six-year low in March, as soaring production from the U.S. and other countries overwhelmed global demand. There are still about 59% fewer rigs working since a peak of 1,609 in October, though the pace of declines has slowed considerably recently. In late May, several U.S. shale-oil companies said they were ready to bring rigs back into service , setting up the first big test of their ability to quickly react to rising crude prices. According to Baker Hughes, gas rigs were down by two to 217 this week. The U.S. offshore rig count grew by two to 31 in the latest week, though it is still off 25 from a year earlier. For […]