Baker Hughes reports that the US oil and gas rig count has reached its highest level since June.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that U.S. firms added oil and gas rigs this week for a fourth consecutive week for the first since February. In the week ending September 26, the oil and gas rig counts, a leading indicator of future production, increased by seven, to 549, its highest level since June. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs increased by six this week to 424, the highest level since July. Gas rigs, on the other hand, fell by one, to 117, which is their lowest level since July.
Oil and gas rig counts declined by around 5% in 2020 and 20% in 2023, as lower U.S. gas and oil prices in the last couple of years led energy firms to place more emphasis on increasing shareholder returns and paying off debt than increasing production. TD Cowen, a U.S. financial service firm, said that independent exploration and production companies (E&Ps) would cut capital expenditures in 2025 by 4% from the levels in 2024.
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 per daily (bpd).
The EIA predicted a 61% rise in the price of spot gas
(source: Reuters)
