Oil prices jumped Friday on an unexpectedly large drop in U.S. drilling activity. Oil producers have cut back sharply on capital spending and new drilling after surging U.S. shale-oil output helped push the global crude market into oversupply last year. As the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. started falling in recent months, prices rallied on the expectation that U.S. oil output is due to slow. However, a drop in production has yet to show up in government data, and some analysts warned in recent weeks that the rig count was nearing a trough. With U.S. oil prices hovering around $60 a barrel, some shale producers say they are ready to add rigs and increase production, which could keep oil prices lower for longer. “People were thinking, ‘Oh, maybe we’ve bottomed,’” said Mark Anderle, director of supply and trading at TAC Energy. “This—even though on […]