Baker Hughes reports that US oil and gas drillers have reported the same number of rigs for the week, 549.

Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company in the United States, said that this week U.S. firms kept the number oil and gas rigs almost unchanged. In the week ending October 3, the rig count, including a miscellaneous group, which is an early indicator of future production, remained at 549. Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs was 36, or 6.2% lower than this time last.

Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs dropped by two this week to 422 while gas rigs increased by one to be at 118. Oil and gas rig counts declined by approximately 5% in 2020 and 20% in 2030 as lower U.S. gas and oil prices in the last couple of years led energy firms to concentrate more on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production. Analysts predicted that U.S. crude spot prices would fall for the third consecutive year in 2025. However, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA), crude production would increase from a record 13,2 million barrels per daily (bpd).

EIA predicted a 61% rise in the price of spot gas Prices in 2025 will prompt producers to increase drilling activity in this year. A 14% drop in price in 2024 forced several energy firms in the US to reduce output for the very first time since 2020, when the COVID-19 Pandemic lowered demand for fuel. EIA predicted that gas production would increase to 106.6 billion cubic feet per day in 2025. This is up from 103.2 billion cubic foot per day in 2024, and a record high of 103.6 bcfd for 2023. (Reporting from Scott DiSavino in Bengaluru ;)

(source: Reuters)