(Reuters) – The US energy company cut the number of oil and natural gas equipment that has been operating for 10 consecutive weeks since July 2020, energy services company Baker Hughes said in a closely-running report on Thursday.
The number of oil and gas equipment, an initial indicator of future production, fell from 8 to 539 in its lowest week since October 2021.
Baker Hughes released a report on Thursday a day earlier than usual for the Friday July 4th holiday.
This week’s decline reduced the total rigs by 46, falling 8% this time last year, Baker Hughes said.
Oil rigs fell from 7 to 425 this week, the lowest since September 2021, with gas rigs falling from 1 to 108.
Due to low prices for US oil and gas over the past few years, it fell by about 5% in 2024 in 2024 and 20% in 2023. Energy companies focused on increasing shareholder returns and repayment of debt.
Analysts have predicted that US spot oil prices would fall for the third consecutive year in 2025, but the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) predicts that crude oil output will increase from 13.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 to about 13.4 million bpd in 2025.
On the gas side, if spot gas prices rise by 84% in 2025, producers are now boosting drilling activities this year as several energy companies cut production companies for the first time since a 14% drop in 2024 reduced fuel demand.
EIA’s forecast gas output rose to 100.9 billion cubic feet (BCFD) in 2025, marking a record BCFD of 103.2 in 2024 and a BCFD of 103.6 in 2023.
Report by Scott Disavino and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese Edited by Marguerita Choy
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