North America put 15 rigs back to work for the week ended Sept. 25, with Baker Hughes reporting 807 rigs drilling across the US and Canada in data released Friday. The gain reverses the prior week's decline and marks a firming in continental drilling activity heading into the fourth quarter.

Canada supplied the bulk of the movement. The Canadian count rose 11 rigs week-over-week to 208, and every added unit targeted oil. Oil-directed rigs in Canada now total 145, while gas-directed activity held flat at 62 rigs. The pickup points to operators in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin restoring programs after seasonal and market-driven slowdowns, though Baker Hughes does not break out provincial detail in its weekly release.

The US and its waters added 4 rigs to reach 595, a count 50 units higher than the same week a year ago — a year-on-year comparison that continues to signal sustained US onshore expansion. Land drilling accounted for most of the domestic movement, rising 3 rigs to 588. Inland waters held at 3 rigs, and the offshore fleet grew by one rig to 8.

By target commodity, US oil-directed rigs rose 32 units on the week to 455 — the figure driving the headline gain — while gas-directed rigs added one to reach 135. Nine rigs remained unclassified, unchanged from the previous week.

State-level moves

New Mexico extended its run as the fastest-growing basin jurisdiction on the continent, adding 3 rigs for the second consecutive week to bring its count to 98 — nearly all of that activity concentrated in the Permian's Delaware basin. At current pace, New Mexico is closing on the 100-rig mark, a threshold it has not crossed since operators slowed Delaware programs in 2023.

Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Utah each added a single rig, bringing their respective counts to 52, 16, and 15. The Oklahoma gain keeps the SCOOP/STACK and Arkoma-Woodford trend in modest recovery mode.

Texas moved against the regional trend, shedding 2 rigs to close the week at 281. Even so, the state's count stands 25 rigs higher than this time last year, underscoring that the Midland basin and Eagle Ford remain the anchor of US onshore activity even in a down week.

Watch items

The forward indicators center on two questions. First, whether Canada's 11-rig jump holds through October, when winterization and annual maintenance typically temper Western Canadian activity. Second, whether New Mexico crosses 100 rigs in the next release — a milestone that would confirm operators are allocating incremental capital to the Delaware rather than the Midland, where private operators have driven most of this year's additions.