North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was down 2 at 263 for the week of July 3, 2020. It is 700 rigs (72.7%) lower than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is down 3 to 185. There are 603 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 70.3 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs targeting natural gas were up 1 at 76. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 98 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 76.3 percent. Gas exploration is down 56.6 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot price is 32.7 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 30.7 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 15 to 18 for the week of July 1, 2020 and is 102 (85.0%) lower than last year. Rigs targeting oil were up 2 at 6 and are 74 (92.5%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 12 is up 3 for the week and is 28 rigs (70.0%) 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
	07/03/2020	06/26/2020	07/05/2019	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	263	265	963	(2)	(700)	-0.8%	-72.7%
Offshore	12	11	24	1	(12)	9.1%	-50.0%
Land	251	254	939	(3)	(688)	-1.2%	-73.3%
Inland Waters	0	0	3	0	(3)	n.a.	-100.0%
Oil	185	188	788	(3)	(603)	-1.6%	-76.5%
Percent	70.3%	70.9%	81.8%	-0.6%	-11.5%
Gas	76	75	174	1	(98)	1.3%	-56.3%
Percent	28.9%	28.3%	18.1%	0.6%	10.8%
Miscellaneous	2	2	1	0	1
Percent	0.8%	0.8%	0.1%	0.0%	0.7%
Directional	20	20	66	0	-46	0.0%	-69.7%
Horizontal	226	230	839	-4	-613	-1.7%	-73.1%
Vertical	17	15	58	2	-41	13.3%	-70.7%
Gulf of Mexico	12	11	24	1	-12	9.1%	-50.0%
Gulf Oil	12	11	22	1	-10	9.1%	-45.5%
Percent	100.0%	100.0%	91.7%	0.0%	8.3%
Gulf Gas	0	0	2	0	-2	n.a.	-100.0%
Percent	0.0%	0.0%	8.3%	0.0%	-8.3%
Canada	18	13	120	5	(102)	38.5%	-85.0%
Oil	6	4	80	2	(74)	50.0%	-92.5%
Percent	33.3%	30.8%	66.7%	2.6%	-33.3%
Gas	12	9	40	3	(28)	33.3%	-70.0%
Percent	66.7%	69.2%	33.3%	-2.6%	33.3%
North America	281	278	1,083	3	(802)	1.1%	-74.1%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$39.48	$39.26	$57.51	$0.21	($18.03)	0.5%	-31.4%
Oil $/mmbtu	$6.81	$6.77	$9.92	$0.04	($3.11)	0.5%	-31.4%
Gas $/mmbtu	$1.73	$1.58	$2.30	$0.15	($0.57)	9.2%	-24.8%

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.