Oil-directed rigs lead North American drilling growth

The drilling rig count in North America increased during the week ended Sept. 12, led by a gain in oil-directed rigs in both the US and Canada.

Baker Hughes’ overall tally of active drilling rigs in North America increased by 7 units week-over-week to 725. The count is down 83 units from the same time last year.

The total US drilling rig count increased by 2 this week to 539 rigs working. There are 51 fewer rigs drilling in the US and its waters compared with this time last year.

Oil-directed rigs in the US increased by 2 this week to 416, down 72 from the year-ago level of 488.

The number of gas-directed rigs was unchanged at 118. There are 21 more active gas-directed rigs than this time last year.

In the US, 13 rigs were active offshore, unchanged from last week, but down 8 from the same time in 2024.

With a count of 524, two additional rigs were working onshore, with rigs drilling horizontally up 1 to 471. The number of rigs drilling directionally increased by 2 to end the week with 56. One fewer vertical rig was drilling, bringing the count to 12 for the week.

Texas, New Mexico, and Ohio each gained a single rig this week. Respective counts reached 244, 94, and 12.

Oklahoma dropped 1 rig to leave 42 working for the week.

Rig counts in Canada increased by 5 units to 186. The count is down 32 from the year-ago period.

Canada’s oil-directed rig count increased by 3 this week to 126, down 24 from the year-ago level.

Gas-directed rigs in Canada increased by 1 unit to 59. There are 8 fewer active gas-directed rigs than this time last year.