North American Rotary Rig Counts

The U.S. rotary rig count from Baker Hughes was up 6 at 261 for the week of September 25, 2020. It is 599 rig s (69.7%) lower than last year.



The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil is up 4 to 183. There are 530 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil are 70.1 percent of all drilling activity.

Rigs targeting natural gas were up 2 at 75. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 71 lower than last year.



Unspecified or miscellaneous rig count is unchanged at 3 rigs compared with 2 last year.



Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is down 74.3 percent. Gas exploration is down 48.6 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot p

rice is 30.1 percent lower than

last year and natural gas spot prices are 18.7

percent lower than last year

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

C anadian rig activity was up 7 to 71 for the week of September 25, 2020 and is 56 (44.1%) lower than last year . Rigs targeting oil were up 3 at 33 and are 55 (62.5%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 34 is up 4 for the week and is 1 rig (2.6 %) 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

09/25/2020 09/18/2020 09/27/2019 Weekly Annual Weekly Annual Total U.S. 261 255 860 6 (599) 2.4% -69.7% Offshore 14 14 24 0 (10) 0.0% -41.7% Land 247 241 836 6 (589) 2.5% -70.5% Inland Waters 1 1 1 0 0 0.0% 0.0% Oil 183 179 713 4 (530) 2.2% -74.3% Percent 70.1% 70.2% 82.9% -0.1% -12.8%



Gas 75 73 146 2 (71) 2.7% -48.6% Percent 28.7% 28.6% 17.0% 0.1% 11.8%



Miscellaneous 3 3 1 0 2



Percent 1.1% 1.2% 0.1% -0.0% 1.0%



Directional 21 23 57 -2 -36 -8.7% -63.2% Horizontal 224 215 752 9 -528 4.2% -70.2% Vertical 16 17 51 -1 -35 -5.9% -68.6% Gulf of Mexico 14 14 22 0 -8 0.0% -36.4% Gulf Oil 14 14 21 0 -7 0.0% -33.3% Percent 100.0% 100.0% 95.5% 0.0% 4.5%



Gulf Gas 0 0 1 0 -1 n.a. -100.0% Percent 0.0% 0.0% 4.5% 0.0% -4.5%



Canada 71 64 127 7 (56) 10.9% -44.1% Oil 33 30 88 3 (55) 10.0% -62.5% Percent 46.5% 46.9% 69.3% -0.4% -22.8%



Gas 38 34 39 4 (1) 11.8% -2.6% Percent 53.5% 53.1% 30.7% 0.4% 22.8%



North America 332 319 987 13 (655) 4.1% -66.4% Prices













Oil $/bbl. $39.85 $39.55 $56.97 $0.29 ($17.12) 0.7% -30.1% Oil $/mmbtu $6.87 $6.82 $9.82 $0.05 ($2.95) 0.7% -30.1% Gas $/mmbtu $2.01 $2.21 $2.48 ($0.19) ($0.46) -8.8% -18.7%

Monthly: International Rig Counts