U.S. energy firms kept the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating unchanged for a second week in a row, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Nov. 1.

The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, held at 585 to Nov. 1. 

Baker Hughes said that puts the total rig count down 33 rigs, or 5% below this time last year.

The number of oil rigs fell by one to 479 this week, while gas rigs rose by one to 102.

The oil and gas rig count dropped about 20% in 2023 after rising by 33% in 2022 and 67% in 2021, due to a decline in oil and gas prices, higher labor and equipment costs from soaring inflation and as companies focused on paying down debt and boosting shareholder returns instead of raising output.

U.S. crude futures were down 2% so far in 2024 after dropping by 11% in 2023, while U.S. gas futures gained about 6% so far in 2024 after plunging by 44% in 2023.

U.S. oil production rose 1.5% in August to a monthly record high of 13.4 MMbbl/d, while gross natural gas production eased by about 0.6% in the month to 115.9 Bcf/d, the Energy Information Administration said on Oct. 31.

The top U.S. oil producers Exxon Mobil and Chevron posted better-than-expected third-quarter profits on Nov. 1 after they pumped record amounts of oil and gas from the Permian basin after acquisitions in the biggest U.S. shale field.

Exxon's output from the basin, which spans across Texas and New Mexico, hit a record 1.4 MMboe/d, while Chevron's Permian production jumped by 22% to 950,000 boe/d, and is on track to hit 1 million boepd next year.

The 26 independent exploration and production (E&P) companies tracked by U.S. financial services firm TD Cowen said they planned to cut spending by around 1% in 2024 versus 2023.

That compares with year-over-year spending increases of 27% in 2023, 40% in 2022 and 4% in 2021.

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