North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was up 6 at 261 for the week of September 25, 2020. It is 599 rigs (69.7%) lower than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is up 4 to 183. There are 530 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 70.1 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs targeting natural gas were up 2 at 75. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 71 lower than last year.

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

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is down 74.3 percent. Gas exploration is down 48.6 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot price is 30.1 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 18.7 percent lower than last year. Daily crude oil and natural gas futures and spot prices are available on our site.

Canadian rig activity was up 7 to 71 for the week of September 25, 2020 and is 56 (44.1%) lower than last year. Rigs targeting oil were up 3 at 33 and are 55 (62.5%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 34 is up 4 for the week and is 1 rig (2.6%) 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
	09/25/2020	09/18/2020	09/27/2019	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	261	255	860	6	(599)	2.4%	-69.7%
Offshore	14	14	24	0	(10)	0.0%	-41.7%
Land	247	241	836	6	(589)	2.5%	-70.5%
Inland Waters	1	1	1	0	0	0.0%	0.0%
Oil	183	179	713	4	(530)	2.2%	-74.3%
Percent	70.1%	70.2%	82.9%	-0.1%	-12.8%
Gas	75	73	146	2	(71)	2.7%	-48.6%
Percent	28.7%	28.6%	17.0%	0.1%	11.8%
Miscellaneous	3	3	1	0	2
Percent	1.1%	1.2%	0.1%	-0.0%	1.0%
Directional	21	23	57	-2	-36	-8.7%	-63.2%
Horizontal	224	215	752	9	-528	4.2%	-70.2%
Vertical	16	17	51	-1	-35	-5.9%	-68.6%
Gulf of Mexico	14	14	22	0	-8	0.0%	-36.4%
Gulf Oil	14	14	21	0	-7	0.0%	-33.3%
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	71	64	127	7	(56)	10.9%	-44.1%
Oil	33	30	88	3	(55)	10.0%	-62.5%
Percent	46.5%	46.9%	69.3%	-0.4%	-22.8%
Gas	38	34	39	4	(1)	11.8%	-2.6%
Percent	53.5%	53.1%	30.7%	0.4%	22.8%
North America	332	319	987	13	(655)	4.1%	-66.4%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$39.85	$39.55	$56.97	$0.29	($17.12)	0.7%	-30.1%
Oil $/mmbtu	$6.87	$6.82	$9.82	$0.05	($2.95)	0.7%	-30.1%
Gas $/mmbtu	$2.01	$2.21	$2.48	($0.19)	($0.46)	-8.8%	-18.7%

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.