North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was unchanged at 790 for the week of February 14, 2020. It is 261 rigs (24.8%) lower than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is up 2 to 676. There are 179 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 85.8 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs targeting natural gas were down 1 at 110. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 84 lower than last year.

There was a 1 rig decrease in unspecified or miscellaneous rig count to 2 rigs.

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is down 20.9 percent. Gas exploration is down 43.3 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot price is 6.2 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 31.1 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 2 at 255 for the week of February 14, 2020 and is 31 (13.8%) higher than last year. Rigs targeting oil were up 5 at 172 and are 20 (13.2%) higher than last year. Gas directed rig count at 83 is down 7 for the week and is 11 rigs (15.3%) 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 drops.

North American Rig Count				Change		Percent Change
	02/14/2020	02/07/2020	02/15/2019	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	790	790	1,051	0	(261)	0.0%	-24.8%
Offshore	23	23	21	0	2	0.0%	9.5%
Land	767	767	1,030	0	(263)	0.0%	-25.5%
Inland Waters	1	0	2	1	(1)	n.a.	-50.0%
Oil	678	676	857	2	(179)	0.3%	-20.9%
Percent	85.8%	85.6%	81.5%	0.3%	4.3%
Gas	110	111	194	(1)	(84)	-0.9%	-43.3%
Percent	13.9%	14.1%	18.5%	-0.1%	-4.5%
Miscellaneous	2	3	0	(1)	2
Percent	0.3%	0.4%	0.0%	-0.1%	0.3%
Directional	47	46	70	1	-23	2.2%	-32.9%
Horizontal	713	711	915	2	-202	0.3%	-22.1%
Vertical	30	33	66	-3	-36	-9.1%	-54.5%
Gulf of Mexico	23	23	21	0	2	0.0%	9.5%
Gulf Oil	21	21	17	0	4	0.0%	23.5%
Percent	91.3%	91.3%	81.0%	0.0%	10.4%
Gulf Gas	2	2	4	0	-2	0.0%	-50.0%
Percent	8.7%	8.7%	19.0%	0.0%	-10.4%
Canada	255	257	224	(2)	31	-0.8%	13.8%
Oil	172	167	152	5	20	3.0%	13.2%
Percent	67.5%	65.0%	67.9%	2.5%	-0.4%
Gas	83	90	72	(7)	11	-7.8%	15.3%
Percent	32.5%	35.0%	32.1%	-2.5%	0.4%
North America	1,045	1,047	1,275	(2)	(230)	-0.2%	-18.0%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$50.54	$50.37	$53.88	$0.17	($3.35)	0.3%	-6.2%
Oil $/mmbtu	$8.71	$8.68	$9.29	$0.03	($0.58)	0.3%	-6.2%
Gas $/mmbtu	$1.81	$1.85	$2.62	($0.05)	($0.81)	-2.6%	-31.1%

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.