Baker Hughes reports that US drillers have added oil and gas rigs to their fleets for the third consecutive week.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that U.S. firms added oil and gas rigs this week for the third consecutive week for the first since February. Oil and gas rig counts, an early indicator for future production, increased by three in the week ending September 19. This is their highest level since July.
Baker Hughes reported that despite the increase in rigs this week, the total number of rigs was still 46, or 8%, below what it was at this time last. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs increased by two this week to 418, the highest level since July. Gas rigs remained at 118.
Oil and gas rig counts declined by around 5% in 2020 and 20% in 2023, as lower U.S. gas and oil prices in the last couple of years led energy firms to place more emphasis on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production. The U.S. financial firm TD Cowen tracked independent exploration and production companies (E&P), which said that they would cut capital expenditures in 2025 by around 4% from the levels in 2024.
This compares to roughly flat spending year-over-year in 2024 and increases of 27%, 40%, and 4%, respectively, in 2023. Analysts predicted that U.S. crude spot prices would fall for the third consecutive year in 2025. However, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA), crude production would increase from a record 13,2 million barrels per daily (bpd).
The EIA predicted a 61% rise in the price of spot gas
The EIA predicted that gas production would increase to 106.6 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd), up from 103.2 billion cubic feet in 2024, and a record-breaking 103.6 bcfd for 2023. (Reporting and Editing by Marguerita Choy)
(source: Reuters)