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                                  home page Rotary and Workover Rig Counts
Weekly Rotary Rig Count
Monthly International Rotary
and Workover Rig Counts
Graphs
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North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was down 5 at 654 for the week of August 11, 2023. It is 109 rigs (14.3%) lower than last year.

The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is unchanged at 525. There are 76 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 80.3 percent of all drilling activity. 

Rigs targeting natural gas were down 5 at 123. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 37 lower than last year.

Unspecified or miscellaneous rig count is unchanged at 6 and is 4 higher than last year.

Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is down 12.6 percent. Gas exploration is down 23.1 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot price is 9.6 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 66.5 percent lower than last year. See Oil Futures Price Goes Negative.

 Daily crude oil and natural gas futures and spot prices are available on our site.

Canadian rig activity was up 2 at 190 for the week of August 11, 2023 and is 11 (5.5%) lower than last year. Rigs targeting oil were down 2 at 116 and are 21 (15.3%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 74 is up 4 for the week and is up 10 (15.6%) from last year. Miscellaneous rig count was unchanged at 0. Canadian drilling falls rapidly in the spring to avoid environmental damage from 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

08/11/2023 08/04/2023 08/12/2022 Weekly Annual Weekly Annual
Total U.S. 654 659 763 (5) (109) -0.8% -14.3%
Offshore 18 19 18 (1) 0 -5.3% 0.0%
Land 636 640 745 (4) (109) -0.6% -14.6%
Inland Waters 4 5 3 (1) 1 -20.0% 33.3%
Oil 525 525 601 0 (76) 0.0% -12.6%
Percent 80.3% 79.7% 78.8% 0.6% 1.5%

Gas 123 128 160 (5) (37) -3.9% -23.1%
Percent 18.8% 19.4% 21.0% -0.6% -2.2%

Miscellaneous 6 6 2 0 4

Percent 0.9% 0.9% 0.3% 0.0% 0.7%

Directional 53 53 39 0 14 0.0% 35.9%
Horizontal 579 585 693 -6 -114 -1.0% -16.5%
Vertical 22 21 31 1 -9 4.8% -29.0%
Gulf of Mexico 17 18 16 -1 1 -5.6% 6.3%
Gulf Oil 17 18 16 -1 1 -5.6% 6.3%
Percent 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Gulf Gas 0 0 0 0 0 n.a. n.a.
Percent 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Canada 190 188 201 2 (11) 1.1% -5.5%
Oil 116 118 137 (2) (21) -1.7% -15.3%
Percent 61.1% 62.8% 68.2% -1.7% -7.1%

Gas 74 70 64 4 10 5.7% 15.6%
Percent 38.9% 37.2% 31.8% 1.7% 7.1%

North America 844 847 964 (3) (120) -0.4% -12.4%
Prices






Oil $/bbl. $83.05 $81.40 $91.92 $1.65 ($8.87) 2.0% -9.6%
Oil $/mmbtu $14.32 $14.03 $15.85 $0.29 ($1.53) 2.0% -9.6%
Gas $/mmbtu $2.73 $2.49 $8.15 $0.24 ($5.42) 9.5% -66.5%

Monthly: International Rig Counts

International rig count, which excludes the US and Canada, is up 14 to 715 for the month of March 2021 and is 344 rigs (32.5%) lower than last year's 1,059 rigs.

The number of rotary rigs targeting oil in December was 535 unchanged from February and is 240 (31.0%) lower than last year. International gas rigs were up 7 for the month at 145 and are 77 (34.7%) lower than last year. Miscellaneous or unclassified rigs at 35 are up 7 for the month and are 27 (43.5%) lower than last year.

International Rig Count Change
Percent Change


Mar-2021 Feb-2021 Mar-2020 Monthly Annual Monthly Annual
International Oil 535 535 775 0 -240 0.0% -31.0%

Gas 145 138 222 7 -77 5.1% -34.7%

Misc. 35 28 62 7 -27 25.0% -43.5%

Total 715 701 1059 14 -344 2.0% -32.5%
Europe Oil 44 48 60 -4 -16 -8.3% -26.7%

Gas 40 37 55 3 -15 8.1% -27.3%

Misc. 16 13 8 3 8 23.1% 100.0%

Total 100 98 123 2 -23 2.0% -18.7%
Middle East Oil 201 204 304 -3 -103 -1.5% -33.9%

Gas 59 56 94 3 -35 5.4% -37.2%

Misc. 1 0 30 1 -29 N.A. -96.7%

Total 261 260 428 1 -167 0.4% -39.0%
Africa Oil 49 47 88 2 -39 4.3% -44.3%

Gas 5 5 14 0 -9 0.0% -64.3%

Misc. 5 5 6 0 -1 0.0% -16.7%

Total 59 57 108 2 -49 3.5% -45.4%
Latin America Oil 108 108 156 0 -48 0.0% -30.8%

Gas 16 17 13 -1 3 -5.9% 23.1%

Misc. 1 0 0 1 1 N.A. N.A.

Total 125 125 169 0 -44 0.0% -26.0%
Asian Pacific Oil 133 128 167 5 -34 3.9% -20.4%

Gas 25 23 46 2 -21 8.7% -45.7%

Misc. 12 10 18 2 -6 20.0% -33.3%

Total 170 161 231 9 -61 5.6% -26.4%


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.




Rotary Rig Count
                - Canada
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Rotary Rig
                Count - Canada Weekly
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Rotary Rig Count
                - Canada
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Rotary Rig
                Count - Canada Weekly
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Rotary Rig
                Count - United States
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Rotary Rig
                Count - United States
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Rotary Rig
                Count - United States
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Rotary Rig
                Count - United States
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World Rig Count Foreign Rig Count
Workover Rig Count
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Workover Rig Count
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James L. Williams
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