U.S. drillers add oil and gas rigs for 14th consecutive month -Baker Hughes, Energy News, ET EnergyWorld

New Delhi: US energy companies this week added oil and gas platforms for the 14th consecutive month as more offshore units in the Gulf of Mexico were put back into service after shutting down when Hurricane Ida struck the coast at the end of August.

This week, 3 offshore platforms returned to the Gulf of Mexico, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely watched report on Friday.

During the week ended September 3, the 14 offshore oil rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico, all located off Louisiana, were closed due to Ida.

The number of oil and gas rigs, an early indicator of future production, rose from 9 to 521 in the week to September 24, its highest level since April 2020, Baker Hughes said.

This brings the total number of platforms to 260 platforms, or 100%, compared to the same period last year.

For the month, drillers added 13 rigs, raising the tally for the 14th consecutive month for the first time since July 2017, as rising oil prices prompted drillers to return to the rig.

For the quarter, drillers added 51 rigs, raising the tally for a fourth consecutive quarter for the first time since December 2018. US oil rigs rose 10 to 421 this week, their highest level since April 2020, while gas platforms fell from 1 to 99, their lowest since August.

U.S. crude futures were trading at around $ 74 a barrel on Friday, putting them near their highest since July as disruptions in global production cause larger-than-expected inventory draws.

With oil prices up about 53% so far this year, some energy companies have said they plan to increase spending in 2021 after cutting spending on drilling and completion in the two last years.

This increase in spending, however, remains small as most companies continue to focus on increasing cash flow, reducing debt and increasing shareholder returns rather than increasing production.

In fact, many analysts do not expect these additional expenses to increase production at all. Instead, they think it will only replace the natural declines in production from the wells.

U.S. oil production is expected to rise from 11.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2020 to 11.1 million bpd in 2021 before rising to 11.7 million bpd in 2022, according to government projections. This compares to the record annual record of 12.3 million bpd in 2019.