The number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States rose by 8 on Friday, according to oilfield services provider Baker Hughes . The total oil and gas rig count in the U.S. now stands at 885 rigs, or 479 above the count a year ago. Oil rigs increased by 9, while gas rigs fell by 1. At 12:16pm EST, WTI was trading down 0.23 percent for the day at $47.72, while Brent Crude traded down just 0.04 percent at $50.75—picking up about a $1.50 per barrel from last Friday after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported earlier in the week a decrease in both crude oil and gasoline inventories, and after reports that OPEC had reached a consensus on a possible extension of its production cut deal, which may be extended into 2018 . This optimism was offset to some degree by reports that Libya—which is […]