Energy Indicators

U.S. oil and natural gas rig counts declined in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the first quarter of 2024. U.S. days of supply of crude, gasoline and distillate were above the five-year average. U.S. retail fuel prices were down in March along with Brent crude oil. The U.S. producer price index (PPI) for electricity increased.

Rigs and inventory

Oil and gas rig counts decline

The Permian oil rig count slipped to 291 rigs for the week of April 4, down 6.7 percent from the same week last year. In contrast, the U.S. natural gas rig count fell a sharp 12.7 percent year over year, falling to 96 rigs (Chart 1). The number of other oil rigs, which includes all other U.S. oil basins except the Permian, was 198, an increase of 1 percent year over year.

U.S. inventories increase slightly

Days of cover (the number of days that domestic inventories would likely last at the recent pace of consumption) for crude and gasoline were slightly higher than the five-year average for the month of March. Distillate inventory rebounded to its five-year-average level after dipping in January (Chart 2). The average days of supply for gasoline in March was 27, 1.26 days above the five-year average. Days of supply for crude oil were 28.1, 0.4 days above the five-year trend. Days of supply for distillates were 30.1, up 0.6 days from the five-year trend.

Consumer energy prices

Fuel prices decline

Real retail fuel prices for on-highway diesel, regular gasoline and Brent crude declined year over year for February. (Chart 3 ). On-highway diesel’s monthly average price per gallon was $3.67 for February, down 11.6 percent year over year. Regular gasoline’s average price was $3.25 per gallon, a drop of 5.1 percent year over year. For context, the price of real Brent crude oil per gallon averaged $1.78, a drop of 10.8 percent year over year. Crude makes up roughly half of the retail price of motor fuels.

Producer price indexes for electricity rise

The PPI index for electricity generation has risen the past few months, netting 10.2 percent growth year over year in March 2025. (Chart 4). The price of transmission, distribution and control, which is the cost extracted by electric grid operations for connecting power producers to consumers, rose 3.7 percent year over year. Combined, the producer price for electricity rose 5.3 percent to 128.9, nearly 30 percent above 2019 levels, mainly due to rising transmission and distribution costs.

Energy employment

Energy jobs expected to be more or less stable at year-end

In mid-March, 57 percent of all executives surveyed expected their firms’ employee levels to remain about the same through the end of this year (Chart 5). However, focusing on the oilfield services sector, only 38 percent of executives surveyed expected head counts to be unchanged. The oilfield services sector is where most of the industry employment resides, and it is traditionally the first to hire or lay off workers when changes in oil prices drive shifts in spending. The survey was conducted before the tariff announcements and decline in oil prices in early April.

Rig counts decline as pipeline transportation employment rises

The average number of drilling rigs in March 2025 was 592, down 4.6 percent year over year. Employment in several oil-and-gas related industries followed suit. Payrolls shrank in support activities (-7,700) and the oil and gas field machinery manufacturing sector (-1,500). In contrast, extraction (300) and pipeline transportation jobs (4,600) increased. (Chart 6).