Drillers put rigs in U.S. oil fields back to work for a second straight week, suggesting the end of an unprecedented retreat from the country’s prolific shale formations. Rigs targeting oil in the U.S. increased by five to 645, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Friday. They rose by 12 last week. Natural gas rigs fell by two to 217 and miscellaneous rigs dropped by two to one, bringing the total count up one to 863. The biggest regional growth came in the Permian Basin of West Texas, where eight oil rigs were added to 239. The Eagle Ford shale in South Texas saw a drop of five rigs to 81. “There are operators in the Permian Basin who are identifying properties that are economic even at these prices,” Matt Marietta, an analyst at Stephens Inc. in Houston, said in a phone interview. “We’ll continue to get this […]