North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was up 8 at 941 for the week of June 23, 2017. It is 520 rigs (123.5%) higher than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil was up 11 at 758. There are 428 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 80.6 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs directed toward natural gas were down 3 at 183. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 93 higher than last year's level of 90.

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is up 129.7 percent. Gas exploration is up 103.3 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot prices is 12.1 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 5.2 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 11 at 170 for the week of June 23, 2017 and is 94 (123.7%) highjer than last year. Rigs targeting oil were up 7 at 98 and are 62 (172.2%) higher than last year. Gas directed rig count at 72 was up 4 and is 33 rigs (84.6%) 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.

North American Rig Count				Change		Percent Change
	06/23/2017	06/16/2017	06/24/2016	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	941	933	421	8	520	0.9%	123.5%
Offshore	22	22	21	0	1	0.0%	4.8%
Land	919	911	400	8	519	0.9%	129.8%
Inland Waters	4	3	3	1	1	33.3%	33.3%
Oil	758	747	330	11	428	1.5%	129.7%
Percent	80.6%	80.1%	78.4%	0.5%	2.2%
Gas	183	186	90	(3)	93	-1.6%	103.3%
Percent	19.4%	19.9%	21.4%	-0.5%	-1.9%
Directional	72	69	43	3	29	4.3%	67.4%
Horizontal	792	782	325	10	467	1.3%	143.7%
Vertical	77	82	53	-5	24	-6.1%	45.3%
Gulf of Mexico	21	21	20	0	1	0.0%	5.0%
Gulf Oil	19	19	16	0	3	0.0%	18.8%
Percent	90.5%	90.5%	80.0%	0.0%	10.5%
Gulf Gas	2	2	4	0	-2	0.0%	-50.0%
Percent	9.5%	9.5%	20.0%	0.0%	-10.5%
Canada	170	159	76	11	94	6.9%	123.7%
Oil	98	91	36	7	62	7.7%	172.2%
Percent	57.6%	57.2%	47.4%	0.4%	10.3%
Gas	72	68	39	4	33	5.9%	84.6%
Percent	42.4%	42.8%	51.3%	-0.4%	-9.0%
North America	1,111	1,092	497	19	614	1.7%	123.5%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$43.26	$45.30	$49.21	($2.04)	($5.95)	-4.5%	-12.1%
Oil $/mmbtu	$7.46	$7.81	$8.48	($0.35)	($1.03)	-4.5%	-12.1%
Gas $/mmbtu	$2.87	$2.97	$2.72	($0.11)	$0.14	-3.7%	5.2%

Monthly: International Rig Counts

International rig count, which excludes the US and Canada, was up 1 to 957 for the month of May 2017 and is 2 rigs (0.2%) higher than last year's 955 rigs.

The total number of rotary rigs targeting oil in May was 715 up 5 from April and 11 (1.6%) higher than last year. International gas rigs were down 1 for the month at 202 and are 5 (2.5%) higher than last year.

International Rig Count					Monthly		Annual
		May-2017	Apr-2017	May-2016	Change	Percent	Change	Percent
Total	Oil	715	710	704	5	0.7%	11	1.6%
	Gas	202	203	197	-1	-0.5%	5	2.5%
	Misc	40	43	54	-3	-7.0%	-14	-25.9%
	Total	957	956	955	1	0.1%	2	0.2%
Europe	Oil	51	52	51	-1	-1.9%	0	0.0%
	Gas	21	18	11	3	16.7%	10	90.9%
	Mis	23	21	33	2	9.5%	-10	-30.3%
	Total	95	91	95	4	4.4%	0	0.0%
Middle East	Oil	293	295	289	-2	-0.7%	4	1.4%
	Gas	98	94	102	4	4.3%	-4	-3.9%
	Mis	0	0	0	0	N.A.	0	N.A.
	Total	391	389	391	2	0.5%	0	0.0%
Africa	Oil	59	60	62	-1	-1.7%	-3	-4.8%
	Gas	16	18	18	-2	-11.1%	-2	-11.1%
	Mis	9	11	11	-2	-18.2%	-2	-18.2%
	Total	84	89	91	-5	-5.6%	-7	-7.7%
Latin America	Oil	173	164	164	9	5.5%	9	5.5%
	Gas	17	18	21	-1	-5.6%	-4	-19.0%
	Mis	0	0	3	0	N.A.	-3	-100.0%
	Total	190	182	188	8	4.4%	2	1.1%
Asia Pacific	Oil	139	139	138	0	0.0%	1	0.7%
	Gas	50	55	45	-5	-9.1%	5	11.1%
	Mis	8	11	7	-3	-27.3%	1	14.3%
	Total	197	205	190	-8	-3.9%	7	3.7%

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.