April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firms this week cut the
number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a third week in
a row, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its
closely followed report on Friday.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future
output, fell by three to 748 in the week to April 14. Despite this week's rig decline, Baker Hughes said the
total count was still up 55 rigs, or about 8%, over this time
last year.
U.S. oil rigs fell by two to 588 this week, their lowest
since June 2022, while gas rigs fell by one to 157.
U.S. oil futures were up about 3% so far this year
after gaining about 7% in 2022. U.S. gas futures ,
meanwhile, have plunged about 53% so far this year after rising
about 20% last year.
The drop in gas prices has already caused some exploration
and production companies, including Chesapeake Energy Corp , Southwestern Energy Co and Comstock Resources
Inc , to announce plans to reduce production by cutting
some gas rigs.
Despite some plans to lower rig counts, the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) this week raised its forecast
for crude output growth.
U.S. crude production was on track to rise from 11.9 million
barrels per day (bpd) in 2022 to 12.5 million bpd in 2023 and
12.8 million bpd in 2024, according to the EIA. That compares
with a record 12.3 million bpd in 2019.
U.S. gas production, meanwhile, was on track to rise from a
record 98.09 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2022 to 100.87
bcfd in 2023 and 101.58 bcfd in 2024, according to federal
energy data.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama)
5832, Outside U.S. +91 9590227221; Reuters Messaging:
Brijesh.Patel1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
For U.S./Canada natural gas rig count vs Henry Hub futures price, see: U.S. natural gas inventories: For a list of all Baker Hughes rig counts around the world, see: For U.S. oil rigs, see: For U.S. gas rigs, see: ))
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