Oil Rig Count Rises Despite Omicron Uncertainty

The number of active drilling rigs in the United States this week rose by 3, according to Baker Hughes. The total rig count rose to 579—a figure that is 233 up from this time last year. Active rigs are still hundreds less than the 790 active rigs drilling prior to the pandemic. The U.S. oil rig count rose by 4 to 475 while gas rigs fell by 1 to 104. Miscellaneous rigs held at zero.   The EIA's estimate for oil production in the United States for the week ending December 10, the last week for which there is data, held at 11.7 million…