Baker Hughes reports that US drillers have cut oil and gas rigs three times in the last four weeks.

Baker Hughes, a renowned energy services firm, said that U.S. firms have cut the number of oil and gas rigs for the third consecutive week.

The number of oil and gas drilling rigs, a good indicator of future production, dropped by three in the week ending April 10 to 545, the lowest level since late March.

Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs is down by 38, or about 7% compared to this time last.

Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs remained at 411 this week while gas rigs dropped by three, to 127 - their lowest level since late March - and miscellaneous drilling rigs stayed at 7.

Oil and gas rig counts declined by approximately 7% in 2025. They also decreased by 5% in '2024 and 20% in '2023, as lower U.S. crude oil prices encouraged energy firms to concentrate more on boosting shareholder returns, paying off debt, rather than increasing production.

The financial services firm TD Cowen reported that 18 of the companies it tracks in exploration and production (E&P), planned to spend 1% less in capital expenditures by 2026 compared to 2025.

This compares to a decrease of around 4%?in 2025 and an increase of 27%, 40%, and 4%, respectively, in 2023 and 2022.

Although?U.S. West Texas Intermediate spot oil prices were predicted to rise for the first time in four year in '2026 due to the Iran War, but the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast crude production would fall from a record of 13.6 million barrels a day in 2025 to just 13.5 million in 2026.

The EIA predicted that gas output would rise from a record of 107.7 billion cu?feet a day in 2025 to 109.6 Bcfd by 2026. Spot prices at the U.S. Henry hub benchmark in Louisiana are forecast to increase by about 4%. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Ni Williams and Scott DiSavino)

(source: Reuters)