July 17 (Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week added rigs for a fifth week in a row for the first time since early June, boosting the total count to its highest since April 2025, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.
The total rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose by seven to 588 in the week to July 17.
Baker Hughes said this week’s increase puts the total rig count up 44 rigs, or 8% above this time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by seven to 452 this week, the highest since May 2025, while gas rigs held at 126 and other miscellaneous rigs held at 10.
In Oklahoma, the rig count rose by two to 50, the most since June 2025.
In Texas, the nation’s biggest oil- and gas-producing state, the rig count rose by two to 274, the most since April 2025.
The oil and gas rig count declined by 7% in 2025, 5% in 2024, and 20% in 2023 as lower U.S. oil prices prompted energy firms to focus more on boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt rather than increasing output.
Spot U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices are expected to rise in 2026 due to supply disruptions from the Iran war after declining in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output will rise from a record 13.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 to 13.8 million bpd in 2026.
On the gas side, the EIA projected output will jump from a record 107.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025 to 111.3 bcfd in 2026 as demand for the fuel rises to produce electricity for power-hungry data centers and for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
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