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(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms cut the number of rigs operating for the first time in eight weeks, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in a closely followed report on Friday.
The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by 1 to 562 in the week to June 12.
Baker Hughes said this week’s decline puts the total rig count up 7, or 1.3% higher, compared to this time last year.
Baker Hughes said the number of oil rigs rose by 2 to 433 this week, the highest total since June 2025, while gas rigs fell by 3 to 121, the lowest since October 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. But with spot U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices expected to rise in 2026 due to supply disruptions from the Iran war, after declines in 2023, 2024, and 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would rise to 13.7 million barrels per day in 2026 from a record 13.6 million bpd in 2025. On the gas side, EIA projected output would jump to 111.0 billion cubic feet per day in 2026 from a record 107.7 bcfd in 2025 as demand for the fuel rises to produce electricity for power-hungry data centers and for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Anjana Anil; Editing by Paul Simao
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