Baker Hughes reports that US energy companies added rigs in the second week at their highest level since May 2024.

Baker Hughes, a provider of energy services, said in its Friday report that US energy companies added rigs this week for the second week in a row for the first since July.

The total number of oil and gas drilling rigs, a good indicator of future production, increased by four in the week ending September 18 to 595, its highest level since May 2024.

Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs is up 53, or 10% compared to this time last year.

Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs increased by two this week to 452, their highest level since August. Gas rigs also rose by 2 to 134, the highest since February 2026. Other miscellaneous drilling rigs remained at nine.

As US oil prices fell, energy companies focused more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that US West Texas Intermediate crude production would rise from 13.7 million barrels a day in '2025 to 13.8 millions bpd by 2026, a record.

EIA projects that the production of?gas will increase from a record high of 107.6 billion cubic feet per day in 2025, to a projected?111.7 billion cubic foot per day in 2026. This is due to the increasing demand for the fuel to power data centers with huge energy demands and to export liquefied gas.

(source: Reuters)