U.S. oil rigs rose 13 to 576 this week, their highest since March 2020. While gas rigs gained one to 150, their highest since September 2019.

More than half of U.S. oil rigs are in the Permian shale in West Texas and eastern New Mexico where total units this week jumped by eight to 343, the most since April 2020.

The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose six to 733 in the week to June 10, its highest since March 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday.

Baker Hughes said that puts the total rig count up 272 rigs, or 59%, over this time last year.

U.S. crude production is forecast to only rise about 700,000 this year to 11.9 million bpd and surpassing the record only in 2023 at 13.0 million bpd, according to government data.

Crude prices are up about 60% so far this year after soaring 55% in 2021, and a growing number of energy firms said they plan to boost spending for a second year in a row in 2022 after cutting drilling and completion expenditures in 2019 and 2020.

U.S. financial services firm Cowen & Co said the independent exploration and production (E&P) companies it tracks plan to boost spending by about 30% in 2022 versus 2021 after increasing spending about 4% in 2021 versus 2020.

That follows a drop in capital expenditures of roughly 48% in 2020 and 12% in 2019.