(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week added rigs for a third week in a row, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Thursday.
The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose by 7 to 580 in the week to July 2, its highest since May 2025.
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Baker Hughes released the rig count report a day earlier than usual due to the U.S. July 4th holiday, which is being recognized on Friday, July 3.
Baker Hughes said this week’s increase puts the total rig count up 41 rigs, or 7.6% above this time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by five to 445 this week, their highest since late May, 2025, while gas rigs rose one to 126, their highest since mid-May 2026, and other miscellaneous rigs rose by one to nine.
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 now with spot U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices expected to rise in 2026 due to supply disruptions from the Iran war after declining in 2023, 2024, and 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would rise from a record 13.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 to 13.7 million bpd in 2026.
On the gas side, EIA projected output would jump from a record 107.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025 to 111.0 bcfd in 2026 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 Daniel Wallis
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