Baker Hughes reports that the US oil and gas rig counts are stable this week.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that the U.S. energy companies this week kept the number of oil rigs and natural gas rigs at a constant level.
The number of oil and gas drilling rigs, which is a good indicator of future production, was 539 during the week ending August 15.
Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs increased by one this week to 412 while gas rigs decreased by one to 122. Texas, which is the largest oil and gas producing state, saw its rig count drop by one, to 242, marking the lowest level since September 2021. In Wyoming, rig counts fell to 13 from 1, the lowest level since August 2024. The Permian Basin in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico, which is the largest U.S. oil producing shale production formation, saw its rig count fall by one, to 255. This was the lowest since September 21.
Oil and gas rig counts are expected to decline by 5% and 20% respectively in 2024, as the lower U.S. gas and oil prices in recent years have prompted energy companies to concentrate more on increasing shareholder returns and reducing debt than increasing production.
TD Cowen, a U.S.-based financial services company, said that the independent exploration and production companies (E&Ps) tracked by it planned to reduce capital expenditures in 2025 by around 4% from 2024 levels.
This compares to roughly flat spending year-over-year in 2024 and increases of 27%, 40%, and 4%, respectively, in 2023. 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 a day (bpd).
The EIA predicted a 65% rise in the price of spot gas
(source: Reuters)
