Oil rigs in U.S. climb as shale drillers face OPEC challenge

HOUSTON (Bloomberg) -- The boom in U.S. oil production will live to see another week. The nation’s crude explorers, engaged in a pricing war with the world’s largest suppliers, defied predictions of a drilling slowdown and ran the most rigs since mid-November, boosting the U.S. count by three to 1,575, Baker Hughes Inc. said Dec. 5. Rigs targeting natural gas were unchanged at 344, the Houston-based field services company’s website showed.

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