Baker Hughes reports that US drillers have added rigs to their fleet for the fourth time in just five weeks.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that U.S. companies added drilling rigs this week for the fourth time within five weeks.
The number of oil and gas drilling rigs, a good indicator of future production, increased by five in the week ending December 5. This is its highest level since late November.
Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs increased by six this week to 413, the highest level since late November. Gas rigs, on the other hand, fell by one, to 129, which is their lowest level since late November.
Oil and gas rig counts are expected to decline by 5% and 20% respectively in 2024, as the lower U.S. gas and oil prices in recent years have prompted energy companies to concentrate more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production.
TD Financial Services tracks the independent exploration and production companies (E&P).
They said that they would cut capital spending by 4% from 2024 levels in 2025.
This compares to roughly flat spending year-over-year in 2024. Increases of 27% were seen in 2023.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration, (EIA), projected that even though analysts predicted U.S. crude spot prices would fall for the third consecutive year in 2025.
Crude output
The number of barrels produced per day would increase from the record 13,2 million barrels (bpd), in 2024, to 13.6 million in 2025.
EIA predicted that a 58% rise in gas spot prices in 2025 will prompt producers to increase drilling activity in this year. A 14% drop in price in 2024 led several energy firms in the industry to reduce output for the very first time since 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic reduced demand for fuel.
EIA project
Gas output
The volume of air pollution in the United States will increase to 107.7 million cubic feet per day in 2025. This is up from 103.2 billion cubic foot per day in 2024, and 103.6 bcfd at a record level in 2023. (Reporting and editing by Chizu Gregorio and David Gregorio.
(source: Reuters)
