Web Trader MT5
Every Friday, oilfield services giant Baker Hughes publishes a count of how many drilling rigs are actively operating, broken down by country, basin, and oil-versus-gas. The North American number (particularly the US count) gets the most attention, because shale producers respond fast to price signals and the rig count reflects those decisions in close to real time.
The series goes back to 1944, which gives it an unusually long history for a commodity indicator. Energy traders use it as a leading indicator of future production: rigs operating today drill wells that produce barrels six to eighteen months out. Rising count means producers are confident; falling count means they’re hunkering down.
It’s noisy week-to-week. The trend over weeks and months matters more than any single print.
Example: During the COVID oil crash in 2020, the US rig count fell from 790 in mid-March to 244 by mid-August; a roughly 70% collapse in five months. By the time the count bottomed, traders already knew that 2021’s US production curve was going to be much flatter than anyone had expected six months earlier.
