North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was up 10 at 320 for the week of November 25, 2020. It is 482 rigs (60.1%) lower than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is up 10 to 241. There are 427 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 75.3 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs targeting natural gas were up 1 at 77. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 54 lower than last year.

Unspecified or miscellaneous rig count is down 1 at 2 rigs compared with 3 last year.

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is down 63.9 percent. Gas exploration is down 41.2 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot price is 25.1 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 9.8 percent higher than last year. Daily crude oil and natural gas futures and spot prices are available on our site.

Canadian rig activity was up 1 at 102 for the week of November 25, 2020 and is 24 (19.0%) lower than last year. Rigs targeting oil were udown 4 at 38 and are 39 (50.6%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 64 is up 5 for the week and is 15 rigs (30.6%) higher 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 seem to take their holidays more serious than their counterparts in the U.S. and rig count usually drops near holidays.

North American Rig Count				Change		Percent Change
	11/25/2020	11/20/2020	11/29/2019	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	320	310	802	10	(482)	3.2%	-60.1%
Offshore	12	12	22	0	(10)	0.0%	-45.5%
Land	308	298	780	10	(472)	3.4%	-60.5%
Inland Waters	2	2	0	0	2	0.0%	n.a.
Oil	241	231	668	10	(427)	4.3%	-63.9%
Percent	75.3%	74.5%	83.3%	0.8%	-8.0%
Gas	77	76	131	1	(54)	1.3%	-41.2%
Percent	24.1%	24.5%	16.3%	-0.5%	7.7%
Miscellaneous	2	3	3	(1)	(1)
Percent	0.6%	1.0%	0.4%	-0.3%	0.3%
Directional	22	20	53	2	-31	10.0%	-58.5%
Horizontal	283	272	701	11	-418	4.0%	-59.6%
Vertical	15	18	48	-3	-33	-16.7%	-68.8%
Gulf of Mexico	12	12	22	0	-10	0.0%	-45.5%
Gulf Oil	12	12	21	0	-9	0.0%	-42.9%
Percent	100.0%	100.0%	95.5%	0.0%	4.5%
Gulf Gas	0	0	1	0	-1	n.a.	-100.0%
Percent	0.0%	0.0%	4.5%	0.0%	-4.5%
Canada	102	101	126	1	(24)	1.0%	-19.0%
Oil	38	42	77	(4)	(39)	-9.5%	-50.6%
Percent	37.3%	41.6%	61.1%	-4.3%	-23.9%
Gas	64	59	49	5	15	8.5%	30.6%
Percent	62.7%	58.4%	38.9%	4.3%	23.9%
North America	422	411	928	11	(506)	2.7%	-54.5%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$43.06	$41.69	$57.48	$1.37	($14.42)	3.3%	-25.1%
Oil $/mmbtu	$7.42	$7.19	$9.91	$0.24	($2.49)	3.3%	-25.1%
Gas $/mmbtu	$2.71	$2.67	$2.47	$0.04	$0.24	1.4%	9.8%

Monthly: International Rig Counts

International rig count, which excludes the US and Canada, is up 4 to 747 for the month of August 2020 and is 391 rigs (34.4%) lower than last year's 1,138 rigs.

The number of rotary rigs targeting oil in August was 556 up 21 from July and is 271 (32.8%) lower than last year. International gas rigs were down 7 for the month at 164 and are 116 (41.4%) lower than last year. Miscellaneous or unclassified rigs at 27 are down 10 for the month and are 4 lower than last year. Most of these are likely oil rigs.

International Rig Count					Change		Percent Change
		August 2020	July 2020	August 2019	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
International	Oil	556	535	827	21	-271	3.9%	-32.8%
	Gas	164	171	280	-7	-116	-4.1%	-41.4%
	Misc.	27	37	31	-10	-4	-27.0%	-12.9%
	Total	747	743	1138	4	-391	0.5%	-34.4%
Europe	Oil	46	45	76	1	-30	2.2%	-39.5%
	Gas	51	51	105	0	-54	0.0%	-51.4%
	Misc.	12	9	12	3	0	33.3%	0.0%
	Total	109	105	193	4	-84	3.8%	-43.5%
Middle East	Oil	235	228	322	7	-87	3.1%	-27.0%
	Gas	66	75	94	-9	-28	-12.0%	-29.8%
	Misc.	0	12	0	-12	0	-100.0%	N.A.
	Total	301	315	416	-14	-115	-4.4%	-27.6%
Africa	Oil	48	43	96	5	-48	11.6%	-50.0%
	Gas	9	9	11	0	-2	0.0%	-18.2%
	Misc.	5	4	8	1	-3	25.0%	-37.5%
	Total	62	56	115	6	-53	10.7%	-46.1%
Latin America	Oil	70	69	170	1	-100	1.4%	-58.8%
	Gas	5	5	23	0	-18	0.0%	-78.3%
	Misc.	0	0	1	0	-1	N.A.	-100.0%
	Total	75	74	194	1	-119	1.4%	-61.3%
Asian Pacific	Oil	157	150	163	7	-6	4.7%	-3.7%
	Gas	33	31	47	2	-14	6.5%	-29.8%
	Misc.	10	12	10	-2	0	-16.7%	0.0%
	Total	200	193	220	7	-20	3.6%	-9.1%

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.