The number of active drilling rigs in the United States remained unchanged this week, keeping the total rig count at 586, as oil prices remain relatively strong despite the fresh wave of Covid-19 cases brought by the new variant of the coronavirus. Last week’s count compared with a rig count rise of 7 for the previous week, which brought the total to 586. Baker Hughes reported the total active rig figure was 235 rigs higher than the rig count this time last year when the oil industry was just beginning to recover from the worst blows of the pandemic. Yet it was still far from the rig count numbers from before the pandemic. Oil production in the U.S. last week stood at 11.8 million bpd, according to the Energy Information Administration. That was up from 11.6 million bpd for the previous week and the highest level since May 2020. […]