US energy firms this week added rigs for a third week in a row for the first time since July, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.
The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose by four to 599 in the week to September 25, its highest since May 2024.
Baker Hughes said this week’s increase puts the total rig count up 50 rigs, or 9% above this time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by three to 455 this week, their highest since mid-August. It said gas rigs rose by one to 135, their highest since July 2023, and other miscellaneous rigs held at nine.
In the Permian Shale in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the rig count rose by one to 270, the highest since June 2025.
In Oklahoma, the rig count rose by one to 52, the highest since May 2025.
The oil and gas rig count declined by 7% in 2025, 5% in 2024, and 20% in 2023 as lower US oil prices prompted energy firms to focus more on boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt rather than increasing output.
Since crude prices have surged during the US-Israeli war on Iran, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that crude output will rise from a record 13.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 to 13.8 million bpd in 2026.
On the gas side, EIA projected output will jump from a record 107.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025 to 111.7 bcfd in 2026 as demand for the fuel rises to produce electricity for power-hungry data centers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by David Gregorio)