BHP Billiton Ltd. , the largest overseas investor in U.S. shale, boosted spending on its onshore oil and gas division as rising prices lure drillers to add rigs and spur a deals spree. The company boosted spending on the unit to $165 million in the three months to Dec. 31, from $108 million the previous quarter, according to a BHP statement Wednesday. It also boosted overall planned petroleum exploration spending by 17 percent to $820 million for fiscal 2017 after its successful bid for Mexico’s Trion field and positive drilling results in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil industry is expected to raise spending for the first time in three years after slashing almost half a million jobs globally during the downturn, industry consultant Graves & Co. said this month. Projects in BHP’s petroleum division will account for about half of its capital expenditure over the next five years, […]