News wire — U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a 10th time in 11 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, fell by 5 to 675 in the week to July 14. , ,
Baker Hughes said that puts the total count down 81 rigs, or 11%, below this time last year.
U.S. oil rigs fell 3 to 537 this week, their lowest since April 2022, while gas rigs fell 2 to 133.
Data provider Enverus, which publishes its own rig count data, said drillers kept the number of rigs operating flat at 732 in the week ended July 12. That put the total count down about 17 rigs in the last month and down 14% year-over-year.
The massive drop in gas prices has already caused some exploration and production companies, including Chesapeake Energy, Southwestern Energy and Comstock Resources, to reduce production by cutting rigs – especially in the Haynesville shale in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
Analysts at East Daley Analytics, an energy research firm, said gathering and production systems owned by Energy Transfer and Williams Cos have seen some of the largest rig count declines.
Follow us on twitter
