Baker Hughes reports that US drillers have kept the number of oil and natgas drilling rigs unchanged for a second consecutive week.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States remained unchanged this week for a second consecutive week.
The number of oil and gas drilling rigs, a good indicator of future production, remained at 551 during the week ending February 20. This is the same as the previous week.
Baker Hughes reported that despite the lack of movement this week, there were still 41 rigs or 7% less than this time last year.
Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs remained at 409 this week while gas rigs remained at 133.
Although the total number of rigs did not change, some energy companies added rigs to certain?states while others removed them.
The number of rigs in Alaska has risen?by two, to 11 - the highest since April 2024.
Oil and gas rig counts declined by about 7%, 5%, and 20% between 2025 and 2023, as lower U.S. crude oil prices encouraged energy firms to concentrate more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production.
The financial services company said that only nine out of 22 independent exploration companies and production companies it tracks have reported earnings. They said E&Ps plan to spend 2% more on capital expenditures in 2026 compared to 2025.
This compares to a decrease of 4% around 2025, a relatively flat?spending year-on-year in 2024 and increases of 27%, 40%, and 4%, respectively, in 2023 and 2022.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that crude production would remain at 13.6 millions barrels per day, the same as in 2025, which was a record high.
The EIA projected that gas production would increase from a record high of 107.6 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd), in 2025, to 110.0 bcfd by 2026. Spot prices at the Henry Hub benchmark price in Louisiana are expected to rise by approximately 22% in the year 2026. (Reporting and editing by Nia William; Scott DiSavino)
(source: Reuters)
