A long-awaited trough in the US rig count appears to be settling in after the severe drop in oil prices during late 2014, although analysts widely believe some exploration-and-production companies will selectively add rigs later this year. But experts say the adds will likely amount to a trickle rather than a deluge, as current oil prices around $60/barrel is enough to sustain current levels, but not enough to entice a widespread activity rebound. In fact, the Baker Hughes rig count rose Friday for the first time since early December, although the increase of two appeared to come from natural gas-prone areas outside the big shale plays, where rig counts continued to drop. “We do expect the rig count to rise minimally through the remainder of this year [at an estimated] small 3-5% increase through year-end, so maybe 25-40 incremental rigs,” Robert W. Baird analyst Daniel Katzenberg told Platts. Baird […]