FILE PHOTO: The logo of energy services firm Baker Hughes is displayed during the LNG 2023 energy trade show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo

By Scott DiSavino

(Reuters) -U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a fourth week in a row for the first time since February, 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, rose by seven to 549 in the week to September 26, its highest since June.

Despite this week's rig increase, Baker Hughes said the total count was still down 38 rigs, or 6% below this time last year.

Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by six to 424 this week, their highest since July, while gas rigs fell by one to 117, their lowest since July.

In the Permian Basin in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the biggest U.S. oil-producing shale formation, the rig count fell by one to 253, the lowest since September 2021.

In the Utica in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, which along with the Marcellus makes up the Appalachia formation - the nation's biggest gas-producing shale basin - the rig count rose by one to 14, the highest since March 2023.

In Ohio, meanwhile, the rig count also rose by one to 13, the highest since February 2024.

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 61% 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. [NGAS/POLL]

It projected gas output would rise to 106.6 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 DiSavinoEditing by Marguerita Choy)