Features
Active rigs ease in US and Canada
Written by Brett Linton
October 18, 2024
Active oil and gas drill rig counts ticked lower this week in both the US and Canada, according to the latest data released by Baker Hughes. US counts continue to hover near multi-year lows, a trend observed since July. Canadian drilling activity remains strong, just a few rigs shy of a seven-month high.
US rigs
There were 585 active drill rigs in the US in the week ending Oct. 18, one less than the prior week. Oil rigs counts were up by one to 482, gas rigs fell by two to 99, and miscellaneous rigs were unchanged at four.
There were 39 fewer active US rigs last week compared to the same week one year prior, with 20 fewer oil rigs and 19 fewer gas rigs.
Canada rigs
Last week there were 217 drilling rigs operating in Canada, two fewer than the prior week. Compared to the previous week, oil rigs declined by one to 153, gas rigs fell by one to 64, and miscellaneous rigs were unchanged at zero.
There are currently 19 more Canadian rigs in operation this week than there were one year ago, with 32 more oil rigs and 13 fewer gas rigs.
International rig count
The international rig count is a monthly figure updated at the beginning of each month. The total number of active rigs for the month of September rose to 947, up 16 from August and seven more than one year prior.
The Baker Hughes rig count is important to the steel industry because it is a leading indicator of demand for oil country tubular goods (OCTG), a key end market for steel sheet. A rotary rig rotates the drill pipe from the surface to either drill a new well or sidetrack an existing one. For a history of the US and Canadian rig counts, visit the rig count page on our website.
Brett Linton
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