North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was down 4 to 247 for the week of August 7, 2020. It is 687 rigs (73.6%) lower than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is down 4 to 176. There are 588 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 71.3 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs targeting natural gas were unchanged at 69. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 100 lower than last year.

Unspecified or miscellaneous rig count is unchanged at 2 rigs.

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is down 77.0 percent. Gas exploration is down 59.2 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot price is 21.9 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 2.8 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 2 to 47 for the week of August 7, 2020 and is 93 (66.4%) lower than last year. Rigs targeting oil were up 2 at 13 and are 81 (86.2%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 34 is up 1 for the week and is 12 rigs (26.1%) 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 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
	08/07/2020	07/31/2020	08/09/2019	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	247	251	934	(4)	(687)	-1.6%	-73.6%
Offshore	12	12	25	0	(13)	0.0%	-52.0%
Land	235	239	909	(4)	(674)	-1.7%	-74.1%
Inland Waters	0	0	0	0	0	n.a.	n.a.
Oil	176	180	764	(4)	(588)	-2.2%	-77.0%
Percent	71.3%	71.7%	81.8%	-0.5%	-10.5%
Gas	69	69	169	0	(100)	0.0%	-59.2%
Percent	27.9%	27.5%	18.1%	0.4%	9.8%
Miscellaneous	2	2	1	0	1
Percent	0.8%	0.8%	0.1%	0.0%	0.7%
Directional	24	22	65	2	-41	9.1%	-63.1%
Horizontal	211	216	817	-5	-606	-2.3%	-74.2%
Vertical	12	13	52	-1	-40	-7.7%	-76.9%
Gulf of Mexico	12	12	23	0	-11	0.0%	-47.8%
Gulf Oil	12	12	21	0	-9	0.0%	-42.9%
Percent	100.0%	100.0%	91.3%	0.0%	8.7%
Gulf Gas	0	0	2	0	-2	n.a.	-100.0%
Percent	0.0%	0.0%	8.7%	0.0%	-8.7%
Canada	47	45	140	2	(93)	4.4%	-66.4%
Oil	13	11	94	2	(81)	18.2%	-86.2%
Percent	27.7%	24.4%	67.1%	3.2%	-39.5%
Gas	34	33	46	1	(12)	3.0%	-26.1%
Percent	72.3%	73.3%	32.9%	-1.0%	39.5%
North America	294	296	1,074	(2)	(780)	-0.7%	-72.6%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$41.64	$40.83	$53.29	$0.81	($11.65)	2.0%	-21.9%
Oil $/mmbtu	$7.18	$7.04	$9.19	$0.14	($2.01)	2.0%	-21.9%
Gas $/mmbtu	$2.16	$1.82	$2.10	$0.34	$0.06	18.8%	2.8%

Monthly: International Rig Counts

International rig count, which excludes the US and Canada, is down 110 to 805 for the month of May 2020 and is 321 rigs (28.5%) lower than last year's 1,126 rigs.

The number of rotary rigs targeting oil in May was 568 up down 83 from April and is 248 (30.4%) lower than last year. International gas rigs were down 20 for the month at 185 and are 96 (34.2%) lower than last year. Miscellaneous or unclassified rigs at 52 are  for the month and are 23 higher than last year. Most of these are likely oil rigs.

International Rig Count					Change		Percent Change
		May 2020	April 2020	May 2019	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
International	Oil	568	651	816	-83	-248	-12.7%	-30.4%
	Gas	185	205	281	-20	-96	-9.8%	-34.2%
	Misc.	52	59	29	-7	23	-11.9%	79.3%
	Total	805	915	1126	-110	-321	-12.0%	-28.5%
Europe	Oil	49	52	69	-3	-20	-5.8%	-29.0%
	Gas	53	54	106	-1	-53	-1.9%	-50.0%
	Misc.	9	6	11	3	-2	50.0%	-18.2%
	Total	111	112	186	-1	-75	-0.9%	-40.3%
Middle East	Oil	265	295	317	-30	-52	-10.2%	-16.4%
	Gas	85	94	93	-9	-8	-9.6%	-8.6%
	Misc.	25	31	0	-6	25	-19.4%	N.A.
	Total	375	420	410	-45	-35	-10.7%	-8.5%
Africa	Oil	43	80	100	-37	-57	-46.3%	-57.0%
	Gas	13	17	14	-4	-1	-23.5%	-7.1%
	Misc.	5	6	9	-1	-4	-16.7%	-44.4%
	Total	61	103	123	-42	-62	-40.8%	-50.4%
Latin America	Oil	59	84	154	-25	-95	-29.8%	-61.7%
	Gas	3	5	24	-2	-21	-40.0%	-87.5%
	Misc.	0	0	1	0	-1	N.A.	-100.0%
	Total	62	89	179	-27	-117	-30.3%	-65.4%
Asian Pacific	Oil	152	140	176	12	-24	8.6%	-13.6%
	Gas	31	35	44	-4	-13	-11.4%	-29.5%
	Misc.	13	16	8	-3	5	-18.8%	62.5%
	Total	196	191	228	5	-32	2.6%	-14.0%

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.