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 natural gas and oil rigs this week for the third consecutive week for the first since November.

The number of oil and gas drilling rigs, a good indicator of future production, increased by five in the week ending February 6 to reach 551 - its highest level since November.

Baker Hughes reported that despite the increase in rigs this week, there were still 35 rigs or 6% less than this time last year.

Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs increased by one this week to 412, the highest level since December. Gas rigs grew by five to 130 - their highest level since November.

Baker Hughes reported that the Haynesville Shale rig count in Louisiana and Texas has risen by seven to 50 this week, which is the highest level since June 2023.

The rig count in the Permian Shale (the nation's largest oil-producing shale) basin, located in West Texas, eastern New Mexico and West Texas, has dropped by one, to 241. This is the lowest number since July 2021.

Oil and gas rig counts are expected to decline by 7% in 2025. They will also drop by 5% in 2020 and 20% in 2023, as the lower U.S. crude oil prices have prompted firms to concentrate more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than on?increasing production.

Only two out of 22 independent exploration companies and production companies tracked TD Cowen have reported their 2026 capital spending plans. E&Ps have so far said they plan to reduce spending by 4% this coming year, after cutting it by 4% last year.

This compares to roughly flat spending year-on-year in 2024. Increases of 27% were seen in 2023.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that crude production would fall from a record 13,61 million barrels per year in 2025 to around 13.59 millions bpd by 2026.

The EIA predicted that gas output would increase from a record of 107.4 billion cubic feet per day in 2025 to an estimated 108.8 bcfd by 2026, even though the spot price at the Henry Hub benchmark was forecast to fall by approximately 2% in the year 2026. (Reporting and editing by Nia William; Scott DiSavino)

(source: Reuters)