Baker Hughes Rig Count

What the rig count measures

Baker Hughes counts rotary rigs that are actively drilling or "turning to the right" at the time of the survey. Rigs that are being moved between sites, waiting on permits or idle are not counted. The company's predecessor, Hughes Tool Company, began the weekly U.S. count in 1944, and Baker Hughes also publishes a monthly international count. Each rig is classified by its target (oil, gas or miscellaneous), by well type (horizontal, directional or vertical), by state and by basin.

When it is released

The North American count is published on Fridays at about 1 p.m. Eastern Time (noon Central). When Friday is a U.S. holiday it is usually released on the last working day before. The international count comes out once a month. The figures are widely reproduced by news agencies within minutes.

Oil rigs versus gas rigs

The split shows where producers are putting their money. Oil-directed rigs respond to the WTI price and shale companies' capital budgets. Gas-directed rigs respond to Henry Hub prices and demand from LNG export terminals. Many oil wells also produce large volumes of associated gas, so U.S. gas output can rise even when gas rigs fall. For gas markets, see natural gas prices.

The oil rig count peaked at 1,609 in October 2014, at the height of the first shale boom, according to Baker Hughes data. It collapsed during the 2015–2016 price war and again in 2020, when it fell below 200. Since then it has recovered only partly. Higher oil prices in 2026 have added rigs: the count rose from 418 a year earlier to 462 in October 2026. That is still far below 2014, because each modern rig drills much faster and longer wells.

The Permian Basin

The Permian Basin of West Texas and south-east New Mexico has the largest number of rigs of any U.S. basin, and Baker Hughes reports its count separately every week. The EIA estimates that the Permian produced 6.58 million b/d of crude in 2025, nearly half of total U.S. output, and forecasts 6.81 million b/d for 2026 (STEO, October 2026). A rising Permian count is the clearest signal of future U.S. supply growth. Other basins in the report include the Eagle Ford, Williston (Bakken), DJ-Niobrara, Haynesville and Marcellus.

The lag between rigs and production

A change in the rig count takes time to reach production. After a rig drills a well, the well still has to be completed (hydraulically fractured) and connected to gathering pipelines. In shale, that chain typically takes several months, and the full effect of a change in drilling activity on output shows up roughly six to twelve months later. Three things weaken the link:

• Efficiency gains. Longer laterals, multi-well pads and faster drilling mean each rig adds more production than a decade ago. U.S. crude output reached a monthly record of 13.995 million b/d in October 2025 (EIA) with far fewer rigs than in 2014.
• Drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs). Producers can complete existing wells without new drilling, so output can rise while rigs fall.
• Completion crews. The frac spread count measures completion activity, which is closer in time to new production than drilling.

Because of the lag, the market reads the rig count mainly as a signal of producers' intentions. A steady rise in oil rigs after a price spike tells traders that shale supply will respond, which can cap longer-dated WTI futures. More on shale supply is on US oil production.

How to use the rig count

1. Follow the trend, not the week. Weekly changes of a few rigs are noise. Four-week and three-month changes are more informative.
2. Compare with prices. Rig counts follow oil prices with a lag of about three to six months as companies adjust budgets.
3. Check the EIA's view. The EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook combines rig data with well productivity. Its October 2026 edition forecasts U.S. crude output of 13.87 million b/d in 2026 and 14.30 million b/d in 2027.
4. Watch company guidance. Quarterly earnings calls from large shale producers often move expectations more than the weekly count.