North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was down 1 at 802 for the week of November 27, 2019. It is 274 rigs (25.5%) lower than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is down 3 to 668. There are 219 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 83.3 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs targeting natural gas were up 2 at 131. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 58 lower than last year.

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is down 24.7 percent. Gas exploration is down 30.7 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot price is 13.7 percent higher than last year and natural gas spot prices are 43.9 percent lower than last year. Daily crude oil and natural gas futures and spot prices are available on our site.

Canadian rig activity was down 11 at 126 for the week of November 27, 2019 and is 73 (36.7%) lower than last year. Rigs targeting oil were down 9 at 77 and are 42 (35.3%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 49 is down 2 for the week and is 31 rigs (38.8%) lower than last year. Canadian drilling falls rapidly in the spring to avoid environmental damage moving drilling equipment during the spring thaw and rainy season. With large weather related seasonal swings, even year-over-year comparisons can lead to incorrect conclusions. Also, Canadians take their holidays more serious than their counterparts in the U.S. and rig count drops.

North American Rig Count				Change		Percent Change
	11/27/2019	11/22/2019	11/30/2018	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	802	803	1,076	(1)	(274)	-0.1%	-25.5%
Offshore	22	22	23	0	(1)	0.0%	-4.3%
Land	780	781	1,053	(1)	(273)	-0.1%	-25.9%
Inland Waters	0	0	2	0	(2)	n.a.	-100.0%
Oil	668	671	887	(3)	(219)	-0.4%	-24.7%
Percent	83.3%	83.6%	82.4%	-0.3%	0.9%
Gas	131	129	189	2	(58)	1.6%	-30.7%
Percent	16.3%	16.1%	17.6%	0.3%	-1.2%
Miscellaneous	3	3	0	0	3
Percent	0.4%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%
Directional	53	54	68	-1	-15	-1.9%	-22.1%
Horizontal	701	699	934	2	-233	0.3%	-24.9%
Vertical	48	50	74	-2	-26	-4.0%	-35.1%
Gulf of Mexico	22	22	23	0	-1	0.0%	-4.3%
Gulf Oil	21	21	18	0	3	0.0%	16.7%
Percent	95.5%	95.5%	78.3%	0.0%	17.2%
Gulf Gas	1	1	5	0	-4	0.0%	-80.0%
Percent	4.5%	4.5%	21.7%	0.0%	-17.2%
Canada	126	137	199	(11)	(73)	-8.0%	-36.7%
Oil	77	86	119	(9)	(42)	-10.5%	-35.3%
Percent	61.1%	62.8%	59.8%	-1.7%	1.3%
Gas	49	51	80	(2)	(31)	-3.9%	-38.8%
Percent	38.9%	37.2%	40.2%	1.7%	-1.3%
North America	928	940	1,275	(12)	(347)	-1.3%	-27.2%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$58.16	$57.15	$51.14	$1.01	$7.02	1.8%	13.7%
Oil $/mmbtu	$10.03	$9.85	$8.82	$0.17	$1.21	1.8%	13.7%
Gas $/mmbtu	$2.52	$2.57	$4.49	($0.05)	($1.97)	-2.1%	-43.9%

Monthly: International Rig Counts

International rig count, which excludes the US and Canada, is up 12 to 1,039 for the month of March 2019 and is 67 rigs (6.9%) higher than last year's 972 rigs.

The number of rotary rigs targeting oil in March was 824 up 7 from February and is 71 (9.4%) higher than last year. International gas rigs were up 2 for the month at 187 and are 1 higher than last year. Miscellaneous or unclassified rigs at 28 are up 3 for the month and are 5 lower than last year.

International Rig Count					Monthly		Annual
		Mar-2019	Feb-2019	Mar-2018	Change	Percent	Change	Percent
Total	Oil	824	817	753	7	0.9%	71	9.4%
	Gas	187	185	186	2	1.1%	1	0.5%
	Misc	28	25	33	3	12.0%	-5	-15.2%
	Total	1039	1027	972	12	1.2%	67	6.9%
Europe	Oil	65	64	55	1	1.6%	10	18.2%
	Gas	18	19	16	-1	-5.3%	2	12.5%
	Mis	12	11	18	1	9.1%	-6	-33.3%
	Total	95	94	89	1	1.1%	6	6.7%
Middle East	Oil	309	317	301	-8	-2.5%	8	2.7%
	Gas	86	81	96	5	6.2%	-10	-10.4%
	Mis	0	0	0	0	N.A.	0	N.A.
	Total	395	398	397	-3	-0.8%	-2	-0.5%
Africa	Oil	104	91	67	13	14.3%	37	55.2%
	Gas	14	14	15	0	0.0%	-1	-6.7%
	Mis	9	8	7	1	12.5%	2	28.6%
	Total	127	113	89	14	12.4%	38	42.7%
Latin America	Oil	166	162	175	4	2.5%	-9	-5.1%
	Gas	22	20	18	2	10.0%	4	22.2%
	Mis	0	0	0	0	N.A.	0	N.A.
	Total	188	182	193	6	3.3%	-5	-2.6%
Asia Pacific	Oil	180	183	155	-3	-1.6%	25	16.1%
	Gas	47	51	41	-4	-7.8%	6	14.6%
	Mis	7	6	8	1	16.7%	-1	-12.5%
	Total	234	240	204	-6	-2.5%	30	14.7%

The Rig Count page will be updated as the data becomes available. US rotary and Canadian rig counts are updated weekly.  International, world and workover rig counts are updated mid month.  The oil price shown in all long term graphs and all but the short term graph of US and Canadian rotary rig counts is US average wellhead price. The price in the short term US and Canadian rotary rig count graphs is WTI spot.