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Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
US oil and gas rig count holds steady this week, Baker Hughes says
Reuters Published 15 Aug 2025, 10:37 PM IST Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firms this week held the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating steady, 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, remained at 539 in the week to August 15. Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by one to 412 this week, while gas rigs fell by one to 122. 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 boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt rather than increasing output. The independent exploration and production (E&P) companies tracked by U.S. financial services firm TD Cowen said they planned to cut capital expenditures by around 4% in 2025 from levels seen in 2024. That compares with roughly flat year-over-year spending in 2024, increases of 27% in 2023, 40% in 2022, and 4% in 2021. Even though analysts forecast U.S. spot crude prices would decline for a third year in a row in 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would rise from a record 13.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 to around 13.4 million bpd in 2025. On the gas side, the EIA projected a 65% increase in spot gas prices in 2025 would prompt producers to boost drilling activity this year after a 14% price drop in 2024 caused several energy firms to cut output for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for the fuel in 2020. The EIA projected gas output would rise to 106.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025, up from 103.2 bcfd in 2024 and a record 103.6 bcfd in 2023. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Zawya
05-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Goldman Sachs sees 410,000-bpd hike in OPEC+ June supply
Goldman Sachs on Friday said it expects OPEC+ to announce a second consecutive increase in supply for June on Saturday, due to modest compliance from Kazakhstan, lower-than-expected OECD inventories, and Saudi Arabia's ability to handle lower oil prices. The Wall Street bank expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to announce a 410,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) increase in supply for June in its meeting on Saturday, from its prior estimate of 140,000 bpd, according to a note. The OPEC+ meeting was moved up to Saturday from the original plan of Monday, three sources told Reuters on Friday. The expected increase would be three times the level agreed in December to start unwinding cuts. Goldman Sachs' prior OPEC forecast relied on a substantial rise in compliance with production cuts, but Kazakhstan's compliance has risen only modestly, it said. Moreover, inventories in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for April undershot the bank's expectations by 28 million barrels due to supply misses in Venezuela and U.S. shale. Saudi Arabia has also signaled that it can weather lower oil prices, consistent with research from Goldman Sachs' economists, the bank said in the note. "This week's drop in oil prices, and the rises in implied volatility and put skew suggest that the market's central expectation has also converged to a 410,000-bpd increase," Goldman Sachs said. Oil fell 8% this week in their biggest weekly losses since the end of March ahead of the OPEC+ meeting, with Brent crude settling at $61.29 a barrel on Friday and West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) at $58.29 a barrel. Goldman maintained its oil price forecast, expecting Brent to average $63 and WTI $59 for the remainder of 2025, and Brent at $58 and WTI at $55 in 2026. The bank estimated that a global slowdown or a complete reversal of the 2.2 million bpd of voluntary OPEC+ cuts could push Brent prices into the $40s in 2026, and below $40 in an unlikely extreme scenario. (Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru Editing by Marguerita Choy)
