The Baker Hughes rig count showed an increase of four oil rigs in the first week of 2017, bringing the total count up to 529, the most since December 2015.
The total represented the first time the current rig count topped the year ago level since January 2015. A year ago, there were 516 active oil rigs. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas also increased, by three, to total 135, just 13 fewer than a year ago.
