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(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a second straight week for the first time since March, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by two to 543 in the week to April 17, the lowest since late March.
Baker Hughes said this week’s decline puts the total rig count down 42 rigs, or 7% below this time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell by one to 410 this week, their lowest since late March, while gas rigs fell by two to 125, their lowest since January, and other miscellaneous rigs rose by one to eight.
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.
Financial services firm TD Cowen said the exploration and production companies it tracks planned to spend about 1% less on capital expenditures in 2026 than in 2025.
That compares with a decline of around 4% in 2025, roughly flat year-on-year spending in 2024, and increases of 27% in 2023, 40% in 2022, and 4% in 2021. Even though U.S. West Texas Intermediate spot crude prices were expected to rise in 2026 for the first time in four years due to the Iran War, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected crude output would slide from a record 13.6 million barrels per day in 2025 to 13.5 million bpd in 2026. On the gas side, the EIA projected output would rise from a record 107.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2025 to 109.6 bcfd in 2026, with spot prices at the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana forecast to climb by about 4% in 2026.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Rod Nickel
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