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(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a second week in a row for the first time since mid-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, rose by three to 547 in the week to May 1, its highest since early April.
Despite this week’s rig increase, Baker Hughes said the total count was still down 37 rigs, or 6% below this time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by one to 408 this week, their highest since mid-April, while gas rigs rose by one to 130, their highest since early April, and other miscellaneous rigs rose by one to nine.
In the Haynesville shale in Louisiana and Texas, the rig count rose by two this week to 58, the highest since May 2023.
In Alaska, meanwhile, the rig count rose by one to 12, the highest since April 2024.
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.
Financial services firm TD Cowen said the exploration and production companies it tracks planned to spend about the same on capital expenditures in 2026 as 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 due to supply disruptions caused by 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. Spot crude prices declined in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
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 Nia Williams
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