U.S. energy firms added one oil and gas rig in the week to April 24, the first increase in three weeks, according to Baker Hughes . The rise brings the total count to 544, the highest since mid‑April, but the sector remains 7% below the same period last year. In the latest week, oil rigs fell to 407, their lowest since February, while gas rigs climbed to 129, the highest since early April, and other miscellaneous rigs held steady at eight. The overall count remains 43 rigs below the same week last year. The oil and gas rig count declined by about 7% in 2025, 5% in 2024, and 20% in 2023 as lower U.S. oil prices prompted energy firms to focus more on boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt rather than increasing output. Financial services firm TD Cowen said the exploration and production (E&P) companies it tracks planned to spend about 1% less on capital expenditures in 2026 than in 2025. That compares with a decline of around 4% in 2025, roughly flat year-on-year spending in 2024, and increases of 27% in 2023, 40% in 2022, and 4% in 2021. Even though U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) spot crude prices were expected to rise in 2026 for the first time in four years due to the Iran war, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would dip from a record 13.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 to 13.5 million bpd in 2026. On the gas side, EIA projected output would rise from a record 107.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025 to 109.6 bcfd in 2026, with spot prices at the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana forecast to climb by about 4% in 2026.