What does the United States Rig Count Monthly measure?

The United States Rig Count Monthly measures the average number of active rotary drilling rigs exploring for or developing oil and gas resources across the United States, as published by the Energy Information Administration.

How often is the rig count published and how far back does it go?

This dataset is updated monthly by the U.S. Energy Information Administration in the Monthly Energy Review, with historical records extending back to 1973.

What specific breakdowns are available in this table?

The table breaks down active rigs by location such as onshore and offshore, by target resource including oil-directed and gas-directed, and by drilling trajectory covering horizontal, directional, and vertical wells.

Why is the rig count considered an important economic indicator?

The United States rig count serves as a primary leading indicator for domestic petroleum production, as energy firms typically adjust drilling activity well before changes in crude oil and natural gas output materialize.

United States Rig Count Monthly

Name: United States Rig Count Monthly
Creator: EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) — Monthly Energy Review
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Latest reading

Total active rigs stood at 585 Rigs in Jul 2026. That is +3.5% from Jun 2026 and +8.1% from a year earlier. The series on this page is monthly and runs from Jan 1973 to Jul 2026. Source: EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) — Monthly Energy Review.

Latest: 585 Rigs; Jul 2026
vs previous period: +3.5%; Jun 2026
vs a year earlier: +8.1%

About this data

US oil and gas rig count and drilling activity monthly from the EIA. This table provides active rotary drilling rig counts across the United States since 1973. Series cover onshore and offshore locations, oil and gas targets, and drilling trajectory types. It tracks monthly well completions and footage drilled to measure petroleum sector activity.

Frequently asked questions

What does the United States Rig Count Monthly measure?: The United States Rig Count Monthly measures the average number of active rotary drilling rigs exploring for or developing oil and gas resources across the United States, as published by the Energy Information Administration.
How often is the rig count published and how far back does it go?: This dataset is updated monthly by the U.S. Energy Information Administration in the Monthly Energy Review, with historical records extending back to 1973.
What specific breakdowns are available in this table?: The table breaks down active rigs by location such as onshore and offshore, by target resource including oil-directed and gas-directed, and by drilling trajectory covering horizontal, directional, and vertical wells.
Why is the rig count considered an important economic indicator?: The United States rig count serves as a primary leading indicator for domestic petroleum production, as energy firms typically adjust drilling activity well before changes in crude oil and natural gas output materialize.

Indicator	07-2026	06-2026	05-2026	04-2026	03-2026	02-2026	01-2026	12-2025	11-2025	10-2025	09-2025	08-2025	07-2025	06-2025	05-2025	04-2025	03-2025	02-2025	01-2025	12-2024	11-2024	10-2024	09-2024	08-2024	07-2024	06-2024	05-2024	04-2024	03-2024	02-2024	01-2024	12-2023	11-2023	10-2023	09-2023	08-2023	07-2023
Total active rigs2	585	565	553	545	550	551	544	546	549	548	542	538	541	554	573	586	592	590	582	589	584	585	587	586	586	588	602	617	625	622	620	623	619	623	631	647	672
Onshore	572	556	535	533	537	534	529	529	530	531	529	525	528	542	561	573	578	576	568	575	570	568	567	566	564	567	582	598	603	603	601	603	599	600	613	629	654
Offshore	13	9	18	12	13	17	15	17	19	17	13	13	13	12	12	13	14	14	14	14	14	18	20	19	22	21	20	19	22	20	20	20	20	23	19	18	19
Oil-directed	449	434	417	410	412	409	410	411	414	418	418	411	422	438	462	475	486	484	478	483	478	481	486	483	479	486	497	508	507	500	499	501	498	501	510	521	534
Gas-directed	126	123	127	128	131	133	123	127	128	121	118	122	114	112	108	106	102	101	100	102	101	101	97	97	101	98	101	108	115	120	119	119	117	118	116	121	132
Horizontal	522	481	482	484	485	483	476	475	478	482	473	470	482	501	517	527	531	528	519	526	520	517	522	521	519	525	544	555	559	560	561	561	552	556	561	576	602
Directional	51	73	59	49	53	56	55	56	60	55	56	54	45	40	42	46	50	50	50	49	48	53	50	48	49	44	42	50	53	50	48	49	54	52	55	52	52
Vertical	12	12	12	13	12	13	13	15	11	12	13	14	15	13	14	14	12	13	13	14	16	15	15	16	18	19	17	13	13	13	12	13	13	15	15	19	18
Completed Wells and Footage Drilled2
Total wells drilled5	1,129	1,091	1,070	1,057	1,067	1,067	1,050	1,061	1,171	1,077	1,128	1,195	1,209	1,127	1,239	1,189	1,173	1,165	1,190	1,137	1,138	1,332	1,213	1,235	1,321	1,191	1,214	1,295	1,206	1,240	1,200	1,228	1,227	1,436	1,253	1,373	1,358
Crude oil wells	752	726	698	685	688	684	687	690	693	700	724	783	777	783	869	808	813	809	800	811	813	953	812	892	978	833	831	947	848	847	835	851	842	944	887	945	877
Natural gas wells	277	268	278	279	285	289	270	278	382	283	306	307	327	246	262	279	257	255	290	224	223	262	296	234	225	255	279	235	251	285	259	268	278	367	256	305	345
Dry holes	100	97	94	93	94	94	93	93	96	94	98	105	105	98	108	102	103	101	100	102	102	117	105	109	118	103	104	113	107	108	106	109	107	125	110	123	136
Horizontal and directional trajectory	965	939	912	888	912	900	882	869	1,021	927	968	1,021	1,024	967	1,057	1,008	1,008	993	1,014	961	928	1,110	1,019	1,023	1,063	945	994	1,079	1,012	1,070	1,020	999	990	1,188	1,008	1,111	1,124
Vertical trajectory	164	152	158	169	155	167	168	192	150	150	160	174	185	160	182	181	165	172	176	176	210	222	194	212	258	246	220	216	194	170	180	229	237	248	245	262	234
Total footage drilled5	18,706	18,172	17,690	17,284	18,606	18,413	17,500	18,015	20,453	18,758	20,052	21,231	21,440	20,209	22,405	20,844	21,095	19,261	19,853	18,678	18,323	22,354	20,697	20,566	21,556	19,715	20,295	21,717	20,494	21,292	19,862	19,890	19,895	23,840	20,296	22,164	22,004
Crude oil wells	12,532	12,165	11,543	11,225	12,391	12,214	11,482	11,660	12,178	12,365	13,316	13,903	13,917	14,533	16,250	14,133	14,840	13,309	13,211	13,468	13,241	16,326	13,806	15,139	15,906	13,795	13,834	16,157	14,575	14,850	13,907	13,945	13,665	15,927	14,509	15,336	14,388
Natural gas wells	5,450	5,301	5,427	5,397	5,546	5,537	5,173	5,688	7,597	5,659	6,041	6,529	6,774	4,984	5,386	5,818	5,526	5,209	5,803	4,389	4,287	5,202	6,124	4,609	4,672	5,184	5,594	4,760	4,809	5,572	5,093	5,152	5,326	7,031	4,905	5,843	6,629
Dry holes	724	706	720	662	669	663	845	667	678	735	695	799	749	692	768	894	728	742	839	821	795	825	768	818	978	736	867	799	1,111	869	862	793	904	881	882	985	987
Horizontal and directional trajectory	18,065	17,578	17,073	16,624	18,000	17,727	16,831	17,265	19,867	18,172	19,427	20,551	20,718	19,583	21,694	20,137	20,450	18,589	19,165	17,990	17,497	21,487	19,939	19,737	20,548	18,753	19,435	20,873	19,711	20,627	19,095	18,995	18,948	22,859	19,319	21,118	21,084
Vertical trajectory	641	594	617	660	606	687	669	750	586	586	625	680	723	625	711	707	645	672	688	688	826	867	758	828	1,008	961	860	844	783	664	767	895	947	981	977	1,047	919