Baker Hughes reported a 3-rig decrease for oil and gas in the United States this week. The total number of active oil and gas drilling rigs now stands at 1,079 according to the report, with the number of active oil rigs decreasing by 3 to reach 885 and the number of gas rigs holding steady at 194. The oil and gas rig count is now 156 up from this time last year. Crude oil prices picked up earlier in the trading day after a very rough start to the week that saw prices fall 7% on the day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, prices held on a higher note despite the Energy Information Administration’s report that showed a build of 4.9 million barrels in crude oil inventory—in contrast to the surprise draw that the API reported on Tuesday. The WTI benchmark was trading up 3.44% (+1.84) at $55.27 at 1:18 […]