1349 ET - U.S. drillers added one oil rig this week to 450, or 34 more than were active a year ago, according to data from oil services company Baker Hughes. "U.S. crude oil production has rebounded to just under 14 million barrels per day, tied with the previous record high set in April," Pavel Molchanov of Raymond James says in a note. The 450,000 b/d increase from a year ago, "boosted by the rig count's rise" is still only about 5% of the oil offline in the Persian Gulf, he says. "Until the Strait of Hormuz reopens, the unprecedented production deficit will need to be cushioned by two main factors: inventory drawdowns and demand destruction." Rigs directed at natural gas rose by 2 to 132.