North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was down 3 at 946 for the week of August 18, 2017. It is 455 rigs (92.7%) higher than last year. Offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was down one rigmatching the recent low of 16 . Fourteen were targeting oil and are down one and two were targeting natural gas.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil was down 5 at 763. There are 357 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 80.7 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs directed toward natural gas were up 1 at 12. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 99 higher than last year's level of 83.

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is up 87.9 percent. Gas exploration is up 119.3 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot prices is 0.2 percent higher than last year and natural gas spot prices are 8.1 percent higher than last year. Daily crude oil and natural gas futures and spot prices are available on our site.

Canadian rig activity was down 6 at 214 for the week of August 18, 2017 and is 93 (76.9%) higher than last year. Rigs targeting oil were down 6 at 121 and are 56 (86.2%) higher than last year. Gas directed rig count at 93 was unchanged and is 37 rigs (66.1%) 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
	08/18/2017	08/11/2017	08/19/2016	Weekly	Annual	Weekly	Annual
Total U.S.	946	949	491	(3)	455	-0.3%	92.7%
Offshore	16	18	18	(2)	(2)	-11.1%	-11.1%
Land	930	931	473	(1)	457	-0.1%	96.6%
Inland Waters	3	3	3	0	0	0.0%	0.0%
Oil	763	768	406	(5)	357	-0.7%	87.9%
Percent	80.7%	80.9%	82.7%	-0.3%	-2.0%
Gas	182	181	83	1	99	0.6%	119.3%
Percent	19.2%	19.1%	16.9%	0.2%	2.3%
Directional	81	76	45	5	36	6.6%	80.0%
Horizontal	799	801	382	-2	417	-0.2%	109.2%
Vertical	66	72	64	-6	2	-8.3%	3.1%
Gulf of Mexico	16	17	18	-1	-2	-5.9%	-11.1%
Gulf Oil	14	15	16	-1	-2	-6.7%	-12.5%
Percent	87.5%	88.2%	88.9%	-0.7%	-1.4%
Gulf Gas	2	2	2	0	0	0.0%	0.0%
Percent	12.5%	11.8%	11.1%	0.7%	1.4%
Canada	214	220	121	(6)	93	-2.7%	76.9%
Oil	121	127	65	(6)	56	-4.7%	86.2%
Percent	56.5%	57.7%	53.7%	-1.2%	2.8%
Gas	93	93	56	0	37	0.0%	66.1%
Percent	43.5%	42.3%	46.3%	1.2%	-2.8%
North America	1,160	1,169	612	(9)	548	-0.8%	89.5%
Prices
Oil $/bbl.	$47.26	$49.09	$47.16	($1.83)	$0.10	-3.7%	0.2%
Oil $/mmbtu	$8.15	$8.46	$8.13	($0.31)	$0.02	-3.7%	0.2%
Gas $/mmbtu	$2.92	$2.83	$2.70	$0.08	$0.22	3.0%	8.1%

Monthly: International Rig Counts

International rig count, which excludes the US and Canada, was down 1 to 959 for the month of July 2017 and is 21 rigs (2.2%) higher than last year's 938 rigs.

The total number of rotary rigs targeting oil in July was 723 down 4 from Jume and 43 (6.3%) higher than last year. International gas rigs were up 3 for the month at 201 and at the same level as last year.

International Rig Count					Monthly		Annual
		Jul-2017	Jun-2017	Jul-2016	Change	Percent	Change	Percent
Total	Oil	723	727	680	-4	-0.6%	43	6.3%
	Gas	201	198	201	3	1.5%	0	0.0%
	Misc	35	35	57	0	0.0%	-22	-38.6%
	Total	959	960	938	-1	-0.1%	21	2.2%
Europe	Oil	46	51	49	-5	-9.8%	-3	-6.1%
	Gas	18	20	12	-2	-10.0%	6	50.0%
	Mis	18	20	33	-2	-10.0%	-15	-45.5%
	Total	82	91	94	-9	-9.9%	-12	-12.8%
Middle East	Oil	299	298	288	1	0.3%	11	3.8%
	Gas	98	99	102	-1	-1.0%	-4	-3.9%
	Mis	0	0	0	0	N.A.	0	N.A.
	Total	397	397	390	0	0.0%	7	1.8%
Africa	Oil	60	62	50	-2	-3.2%	10	20.0%
	Gas	22	17	22	5	29.4%	0	0.0%
	Mis	7	7	10	0	0.0%	-3	-30.0%
	Total	89	86	82	3	3.5%	7	8.5%
Latin America	Oil	177	176	158	1	0.6%	19	12.0%
	Gas	19	16	22	3	18.8%	-3	-13.6%
	Mis	0	0	6	0	N.A.	-6	-100.0%
	Total	196	192	186	4	2.1%	10	5.4%
Asia Pacific	Oil	141	140	135	1	0.7%	6	4.4%
	Gas	44	46	43	-2	-4.3%	1	2.3%
	Mis	10	8	8	2	25.0%	2	25.0%
	Total	195	194	186	1	0.5%	9	4.8%

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.