By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for the third time in four weeks, 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 two to 548 in the week to November 7.

Despite this week’s rig increase, Baker Hughes said the total count was still down 37 rigs, or 6% below this time last year.

Baker Hughes said oil rigs held steady at 414 this week, while gas rigs rose by three to 128, their highest since August 2023. The number of miscellaneous rigs also declined by one to six.

The oil and gas rig count declined by about 5% in 2024 and 20% in 2023 as lower U.S. oil and gas prices prompted energy firms to focus more on boosting shareho

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