US Oil, Gas Drillers Hang Back in Volatile Market

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 581, up 44 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs stayed at 445 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 21 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs also stayed the same, at 126, which is 18 more than this time last year. The gain was courtesy of the miscellaneous rig count, which gained 1,…