Baker Hughes reports that US energy companies have cut back on drilling for the first time in eight-weeks.

Baker Hughes, a well-respected energy services company, said that U.S. firms had 'cut back on the number of operating rigs for the first time in 8 weeks.

The number of oil and gas rigs, a good indicator of future production, dropped by one to 562 during the week ending June 12.

Baker Hughes reported that the decline this week has pushed up the total number of rigs by 7, or 1.3%, when compared with this time last year.

Baker Hughes reported that the number of oil and gas rigs increased by 2 this week to 433, the highest total seen since June 2025. Gas rigs, however, fell by 3 to just 121, the lowest level since October 2025. Oil and?gas production declined by 7%, 5% and 20% respectively in 2025 and 2024. Lower U.S. crude oil prices led energy firms to prioritize shareholder returns and debt repayment over increasing output. After a decline in 2023, 2024 and 2025 due to the Iran War, spot U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), crude prices are expected to increase in 2026. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), however, projected that crude production would rise to 13.7 millions barrels per day by 2026, from a record 13.6 million bpd. EIA predicted that gas production would increase to 111.0 billion cubic feet per day by?2026, from a record of 107.7 billion cubic feet a day in 2025. This is due to a rise in demand for the fuel to power data centers or export it as LNG. (Reporting and editing by Scott DiSavino, Anjana Anil)

(source: Reuters)