U.S. oil drillers cut rigs this week for the first time since January and the pace of additions slowed this quarter due to declines in crude prices despite an OPEC-led effort to cut production and end a multi-year supply glut. Analysts, however, noted the weekly decline in the rig count was likely just a brief pause in a drilling recovery expected to continue through at least 2019. Drillers cut two oil rigs in the week to June 30, bringing the total rig count down to 756, still more than double the 341 rigs in the same week a year ago, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report on Friday. That decline followed a record 23 consecutive weeks of rig additions, according to Baker Hughes data going back to 1987. Drillers have added rigs in 52 of the past 57 weeks since the start of […]