Baker Hughes reports that US drillers have cut their oil and gas rigs a second time in a week.
Baker Hughes, an energy services firm, said that U.S. firms have 'cut back on the number of oil & /natural gas rigs for a second consecutive week for the first time since mid-January.
The number of oil and gas rigs, a good indicator of future production, dropped by nine in the week ending March 27 to 543, the lowest level since January 16.
Baker?Hughes stated that this week's decrease puts the total number of rigs down by 49 rigs or 8.3% from this time last year.
Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs dropped?by five to 409 in this week. This is their lowest level since the week ending February 27. Gas?rigs also fell by four to 127.
As U.S. crude oil prices fell, energy companies focused more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) projection was that 'crude production would increase from a record 13,59 million barrels per a day (bpd), in 2025, to 13,61 million bpd, in 2026.
The EIA predicted that gas output would rise from a new record of 107.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2025, to 109.5 billion cubic foot per day in 2026. Spot prices at the U.S. Henry hub benchmark in Louisiana are forecast to increase by about 7%. Reporting by Scott DiSavino, New York; editing by Chris Reese & David Gregorio
(source: Reuters)
