The number of active RIGS drilling for oil and gas in the United States rose for a third straight week this week as relatively high oil prices encouraged operators to add more RIGS.

The number of active U.S. oil and gas RIGS, a leading indicator of future production, rose by three to 782 in the week ended Nov. 18, the highest level since March 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely watched rig report on Friday.

The number of active U.S. RIGS through the week was up 219, or 39 percent, from a year earlier.

The U.S. oil rig count rose one to 623, the highest since March 2020. The number of active natural gas RIGS increased by 2 to 157.

While rig counts have been rising for most of the past two years, weekly gains have been in the single digits in recent months and oil production remains below pre-pandemic record levels as many companies focus more on returning money to investors and repaying debt than boosting production.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its forecast for crude production growth next year by 21%, just days after the heads of oil producers warned of persistent inflation and supply chain constraints.

U.S. crude oil production is expected to rise from 11.3 million BPD in 2021 to 11.8 million BPD in 2022 and 12.3 million BPD in 2023, according to the EIA. That compares with a record 12.3 million BPD in 2019.

But with oil prices still up about 5 percent so far this year after surging 55 percent in 2021, and pressure from the government to increase production, several energy companies have said they plan to increase spending for a second straight year in 2022 after cutting back on drilling and completion spending in 2019 and 2020.