Baker Hughes: The number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the United States increases for the first time in a row for 16 months

Foreign News reported on November 24 that the number of active oil and gas drilling rigs for US energy companies has increased for 16 consecutive months.
This is the first time in history.
Oil prices have risen to a seven-year high in recent weeks, prompting some drilling companies to resume drilling activities
.


Due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in the United States on Thursday, Baker Hughes released data on the number of rigs two days earlier than usual
.


U.
S.
oil service company Baker Hughes said in a closely watched report on Friday that as of the week of November 24, the number of active oil and gas drilling rigs increased by 6 to 569, which is since April 2020.
The highest level
.


The number of drilling rigs increased by 249, or 78%, compared with the same period last year
.
According to Baker Hughes, the number of rigs increased by 25 in November, the largest monthly increase since January
.


  Data show that the number of active oil rigs in the United States increased by 6 this week to 467, the highest level since April 2020; the number of natural gas rigs remained stable at 102 for the third consecutive week, the highest since September 2021
.


  After the US crude oil futures rose to near the highest level since the beginning of 2014 during the month, they were trading at around $78 a barrel on Wednesday
.


  Oil prices rose by about 61% during the year, and some energy companies said they plan to expand spending in 2021 and 2022
.
In 2019 and 2020, oil companies have reduced their drilling and completion expenditures
.


  However, shale oil producers are putting the brakes on reinvestment
.
According to data from consulting firm Rystad Energy, last quarter, as these companies returned cash to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases, the proportion of cash from operations that they invested in oil and gas drilling fell to a historical low
.


  Rystad said in a report this week that the reinvestment rate in the third quarter was 46%, below the historical average of 130%
.
Analysts of the agency said that reinvestment may fall further
.


  Strangely, even if the price of natural gas recorded a greater increase-102% so far this year-it did not motivate drillers to seek to increase natural gas production
.


  The number of oil rigs has increased by approximately 75% this year, while the number of active natural gas rigs has increased by only 23%
.