Baker Hughes reports that US energy companies have added the most rigs per week in a row since June 2022.

Baker Hughes, an energy services company, said in its report on Friday that the U.S. energy companies?had experienced their largest weekly increase of rigs since June 2022. The number of oil and gas rigs, a good indicator of future production, increased by 10 during the week ending June 26. This is the biggest weekly increase in the last four years. Total rig count reached 573, its highest level since May 2025. Baker Hughes said this week's rise in rig counts puts the total up by 26 rigs or 5% over this time last. Oil rigs rose by seven this week to 440, the highest level since June 2025. Gas rigs increased by?three, to 125. Other miscellaneous drilling rigs remained at eight. Oil and gas rig counts declined by 7%, 5%, and 20% between 2025 and 2023, as energy firms focused more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production. After a?declining trend in 2023 and 2024, it is expected that spot U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude prices will rise?in 2020 due to the disruptions caused by the Iran War. The?U.S. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), a government agency, projected that crude oil production would increase from 13.6 million barrels a day (bpd), - formerly a record - to 13.7 millions bpd by 2026. EIA predicted that the gas output would increase from a record of 107.7 billion cu?feet a day (bcfd), in?2025, to 111.0 bcfd by 2026 as demand grows for electricity in power-hungry data centres and exports in liquefied gas. (Reporting and editing by Cynthia Osterman; Scott DiSavino)

(source: Reuters)