September 25, 2026

U.S. Oil, Gas Drilling Perks Up As Pressure Mounts

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, with the total rig count in the US rising to 599, up 50 from this same time last year. It is the second

The number of active oil rigs rose by 3, reaching 455 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 31 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 1 to 135, which is 18 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 9.

The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production fell for the second week in a row during week ending September 18. US crude oil production averaged 13.939 million bpd during the reporting period, down slightly from 13.944 million bpd last week but up 438,000 bpd from a year ago.

Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, rose again during the week ending September 18, gaining 3 crews to reach 187.

The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 1 during the reporting period to 270. This is 17 rigs above year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford lost a rig, landing at 50, which is 5 more than this same time last year.

Oil prices were down on Friday prior to the data release, with Brent now trading at $103.83 (-2.60%) per barrel, roughly on par with prices this same time last week. WTI was also trading down on the day at $92.12 (-2.63%).