US oil and gasoline rigs rise for first time in three weeks, Baker Hughes says

By Scott DiSavino

(Reuters) – U.S. vitality companies this week added oil and pure gasoline rigs for the primary time in three weeks, vitality providers agency Baker Hughes stated in its carefully adopted report on Friday.

The oil and gasoline rig depend, an early indicator of future output, rose by one to 593 within the week to March 21.

Regardless of this week’s rig enhance, Baker Hughes stated the whole depend was nonetheless down 31 rigs, or 5% under this time final 12 months.

Baker Hughes stated oil rigs fell by one to 486 this week, whereas gasoline rigs rose by two to 102.

The oil and gasoline rig depend declined by about 5% in 2024 and 20% in 2023 as decrease U.S. oil and gasoline costs over the previous couple of years prompted vitality companies to focus extra on boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt fairly than growing output.

Despite the fact that analysts forecast U.S. spot crude costs would decline for a 3rd 12 months in a row in 2025, the U.S. Power Info Administration (EIA) projected crude output would rise from a file 13.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 to round 13.6 million bpd in 2025.

On the gasoline aspect, the EIA projected a 91% enhance in spot gasoline costs in 2025 would immediate producers to spice up drilling exercise this 12 months after a 14% value drop in 2024 precipitated a number of vitality companies to chop output for the primary time for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic decreased demand for the gas in 2020. [NGAS/POLL]

The EIA projected gasoline output would rise to 105.2 billion cubic ft per day (bcfd) in 2025, up from 103.2 bcfd in 2024 and a file 103.6 bcfd in 2023.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Enhancing by Marguerita Choy)