U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a second week in a row for the first time since mid-January, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by nine to 543 in the week to March 27, the lowest since the week of January 16.
Baker Hughes said this week’s decline puts the total rig count down 49 rigs, or 8.3% below this time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell by 5 to 409 this week, their lowest since the week of February 27, while gas rigs fell by 4 to 127, their lowest since the week of January 30.
The oil and gas rig count declined by about 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.
With U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) spot crude prices expected to rise in 2026 for the first time in four years due to the Iran War, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would climb from a record 13.59 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 to 13.61 million bpd in 2026.
On the gas side, EIA projected output would rise from a record 107.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025 to 109.5 bcfd in 2026 with spot prices at the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana forecast to climb by about 7% in 2026.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio)