MARKETWIRE ALERTS

MARKETWIRE ALERTS 

MarketWire Afternoon News for October 24^th

Updated at 5:00 PM ET 

HEADLINES:

— Baker Hughes: North America Rig Count Rose by 3 Last week

–NatGas Share Declines on ERCOT in Jan-Sept While Solar Jumps

–Baker Hughes Q3 Net Dip 20% Y-o-Y on Less Drilling Revenue

— US CPI Rises 0.3% in Sept, Gasoline Index Up, USD Drops

NEWS:

Baker Hughes: North America Rig Count Rose by 3 Last week

North American drilling activity rose this week, with a net three rigs added across the U.S. and Canada to reach 749, according to Baker Hughes data released Friday (10/24).

Total rigs operating in the United States rose by two to 550, while staying 35 below from the same week last year.

In the U.S., oil-directed rigs were up two at 420, while gas rigs saw no change at 121 week-over-week. Miscellaneous rigs were also flat, at nine.

On the North American front, land-based drilling declined by one rig to 527. Offshore activity rose by four to 21, while inland waters dipped by two to stand at just one rig. The Gulf of Mexico rig count declined by four to reach 12.

Canada’s total rig count rose by one to 199, with oil-directed rigs up by two to 138 and gas rigs unchanged at 61. Despite the increases, total rigs for Canada remained 17 below last year’s levels.

NatGas Share Declines on ERCOT in Jan-Sept While Solar Jumps

Natural gas-fired generation dipped 4% year-on-year in the first nine months at ERCOT while solar-sourced generation grew 50% as the Texas electricity provider saw record demand, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Friday (10/24).

Natural gas-fired generation between January and September accounted for 43% of the power on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid, versus 47% for the first nine months of last year, the EIA said.

It said gas contributed to 161 TWh of electricity on the ERCOT in 2023 and its share has flattened since to158 TWh between January and September this year.

The increased availability of solar generation on the Texas grid in recent years has also reduced the need for gas-fired generation during that time of the day, the EIA noted.

Since 2023, wind and solar generation, especially utility-scale solar, have been the fastest-growing sources of electricity on the ERCOT and increasingly meeting rising demand, which hit a record high in the first months of this year. ERCOT’s generation itself grew 5% to 372 TWh between January and September.

Utility-scale solar generated 45 TWh in the first nine months of this year, up 50% from the same period of 2024 and nearly four times that of the comparative span in 2021, when utility-scale solar only produced 11 TWh.

Wind generation through the first nine months of this year totaled 87 TWh, up 4% compared with the same period in 2024 and 36% since the same period in 2021. Together, wind and solar generation met 36% of ERCOT’s electricity demand in the first nine months of 2025.

Baker Hughes Q3 Net Dip 20% Y-o-Y on Less Drilling Revenue

Baker Hughes Co. said a year-on-year drop of $96 million in well construction revenue and a $32 million decline in oilfield services and equipment sales drove its third quarter net income down 20% from a year ago.

Net income in June to September 2025 stood at $609 million versus the $766 million reported during the third quarter of last year, Baker Hughes said in financial results released Thursday (10/23).

The company said well construction revenue declined to $954 million from a previous $1.05 billion.

It said orders for oilfield services and equipment were valued at $4.07 billion for the quarter in review, compared with $3.5 billion in the year-ago period. But revenue for the segment only totaled $3.64 billion versus the prior $3.96 billion.

In addition, Baker Hughes reported net charges from special item adjustments of around $100 million, which reduced its reported net income.

The firm said, however, continued to benefit from strong market conditions in LNG, power generation and offshore activity that reinforced its growth outlook in the IET, or industrial and energy technology, segment.

“After securing almost $11 billion in orders during the first three quarters, and with strong

visibility on expected awards in the fourth quarter, we now expect full-year orders to exceed our prior midpoint,” Baker Hughes added.

US CPI Rises 0.3% in Sept, Gasoline Index Up, USD Drops

The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.3% in September, after rising 0.4% in August, bringing the annual rate of inflation for the all-items index to 3%, according to data released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

While the annual inflation rate was higher than the 2.9% reported by BLS the prior month, it was lower than market expectations for a 3.1% year-on-year growth in CPI for September.

BLS also reported that the energy index rose 1.5% in September, as the gasoline index grew 4.1% from the previous month.

The food index was up 0.2% month-on-month as the indices for food at home and food away from home rose 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.

The all-items less food and energy index, the so-called core inflation, rose 0.2% in September, versus the monthly rise of 0.3% recorded in August.

Categories that increased in September included shelter, airline fares, recreation, household furnishings and operations, and apparel. Meanwhile, motor vehicle insurance, used cars and trucks, and communication were among the few major indexes that decreased in the reviewed month.

In response to the data, the December NYMEX WTI futures contract rose $0.15 to $61.90 bbl. The U.S. dollar index decreased by 0.059 points to 98.670 against a basket of foreign currencies.