(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for the first time in eight weeks, 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 six to 582 in the week to Jan. 31.
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 seven to 479 this week, while gas rigs fell by one to 98. That weekly rise in oil rigs was the biggest increase since February 2023.
In the Gulf of Mexico, the rig count fell by one to 11, the lowest since March 2022.
In the Haynesville shale in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, the rig count fell by one to 28, the lowest since January 2017.
For the month, total oil and gas rigs fell by seven, the most in a month since June, with both oil and gas rigs down by four in January.
The oil and gas rig count declined by about 5% in 2024 and 20% in 2023, as lower U.S. oil and gas prices over the past couple of years prompted energy firms to focus more on paying down debt and boosting shareholder returns rather than raising output.
U.S. crude oil production fell by 122,000 barrels per day in November to 13.314 million bpd, down from a monthly record high of 13.436 million bpd in October, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its latest monthly report on Friday.
Gross natural gas production in the U.S. Lower 48 states, meanwhile, rose by about 0.2% in November to 115.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), according to the agency. That compared with a monthly record high of 117.8 bcfd in February 2024.
Meanwhile, U.S. oilfield services firms are facing weaker pricing and revenue this year as oil producers become increasingly efficient and keep a cap on spending, according to oilfield executives and analysts.
Baker Hughes, however, beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as robust demand for natural gas equipment and services helped offset weak sales of its drilling gear in North America.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Nia Williams and Bill Berkrot
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