The number of U.S. oil-drilling rigs, viewed as a proxy for activity in the sector, has fallen sharply since oil prices began to tumble in 2014. The number of oil rigs in the U.S. peaked at 1,609 in October 2014. According to Baker Hughes, the number of U.S. gas rigs rose by one in the latest week to 87. The U.S. offshore-rig count was 22 in the latest week, down two from the previous week and down 12 from a year earlier. Crude oil prices fell on Friday as investors took profits following Thursday’s steep gains and the dollar added to its recent rally. Oil hit fresh six-month highs on Thursday in part from a bullish report on supply and demand from the Paris-based International Energy Agency. It focused on recent supply outages and strong demand world-wide, which helped revive oil’s rally in the past week. But many of […]