Rigs targeting crude in the US rose by 9 to 325 in the last week of May and demand come closer into balance, Baker Hughes said, Business Day reported.  Explorers have idled more than 1,000 oil rigs since the start of last year, while Natural gas rigs were trimmed by 5 to 82 last week, bringing the total for oil and gas up by 4 to 408.

The closely followed report done by the American industrial service firm, one of the world’s largest oil field services companies, rekindled fears that US shale drillers would turn the spigots back on as prices flirted with $50 a barrel. Prices had already dipped in early trade on worries about the US economy, but losses were limited by a weakening dollar, which makes oil less expensive for buyers using other currencies, Gulf News wrote.