US Rig Count Up Slightly This Week as We Compare Baker Hughes, Enverus, and WellDatabase

U.S. oil and gas drillers posted a modest weekly gain according to the industry’s most widely followed benchmark, while production continues to hold near record levels. This points to ongoing capital discipline even as output edges higher.

The Latest Rig Counts

Baker Hughes reported the U.S. rotary rig count rose 5 week-over-week to 593 for the week ending August 14, 2026. Oil-directed rigs increased by 1 to 455, gas-directed rigs jumped 4 to 128, and miscellaneous held steady at 10. The total is up 54 rigs (about 10%) from 539 a year earlier.

The uploaded WellDatabase US Rig Report dated August 16, 2026, shows a total of 596 rigs. That figure is down 24 from the prior week but still up 18 year-over-year. The sharp weekly decline is concentrated almost entirely in North Dakota (down 24 to 32) and the Williston Basin (down 24 to 35). Texas edged up 2 to 275, New Mexico was flat at 96, and the Permian Basin rose 3 to 263.

Enverus’s daily GPS-based count stood at 649 as of August 15, 2026 (roughly flat to slightly higher day-to-day and down about 2% from the prior week). Enverus consistently runs higher than the weekly rotary censuses because it captures a broader share of the active fleet in near real time.

These differences are normal and useful.

Baker Hughes provides the long-standing weekly rotary benchmark. Enverus offers higher-frequency, GPS-driven visibility. WellDatabase cross-references activity with permits and delivers the richest operator, state, basin, well-type, wellbore, and depth breakdowns. Directionally, all three point to the same picture: activity has recovered from 2025 lows and stabilized in a range that supports higher production without a return to the rapid growth of earlier cycles.

Basin and Regional Trends

The Permian remains the dominant play. Baker Hughes showed it near 265 (+2 on the week). WellDatabase put it at 263 (+3). Enverus tracked it around 256. Year-over-year gains are solid but measured.

Gas-focused basins continue to show strength. Haynesville held or rose (Baker Hughes +3 to 59; WellDatabase flat at 56 but +15 year-over-year). Eagle Ford was steady near 49. Cana Woodford and Granite Wash posted modest year-over-year growth. The Williston Basin is the clear soft spot in the latest WellDatabase snapshot (down sharply week-over-week and year-over-year), reflecting operator prioritization of higher-return inventory elsewhere.

Top states in the WellDatabase report: Texas 275 (+2), New Mexico 96 (flat), Oklahoma 50 (flat), Louisiana 38 (flat), and North Dakota 32 (–24). Horizontal wells continue to dominate (502 in WellDatabase, up 3), with oil wells at 430 (+3) and gas at 124 (–3).

Leading operators in the WellDatabase tally include Permian Resources (17, –6), Continental Resources (12, –9), Oxy (11, –3), and several others in the 8–11 range, illustrating a mix of public and private capital allocation.

U.S. Oil and Gas Production

Crude oil production remains robust. EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending August 7, 2026, estimated domestic crude output at 13,805 thousand barrels per day, essentially unchanged from the prior week’s 13,804 kbd and well above year-ago levels.

The August 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook projects full-year 2026 U.S. crude production averaging about 13.8 million barrels per day, up from 13.6 million bpd in 2025.

Natural gas production is on a record trajectory. Dry gas output in May 2026 averaged roughly 110.3 Bcf/d (up 3.5% year-over-year). The STEO forecasts marketed natural gas production averaging 122.5 Bcf/d for 2026, surpassing the prior record. Growth is concentrated in the Permian (associated gas) and Haynesville.

Are Drillers Still Being Fiscally Responsible?

Yes. Production is rising (or holding near records) while the rig count has stabilized in the high-500s (Baker Hughes/WellDatabase) to mid-600s (Enverus) rather than accelerating aggressively. Operators are prioritizing capital returns, high-quality inventory, and efficiency gains—longer laterals, better completion designs, and selective growth in the highest-return basins—over pure volume expansion.

The modest Baker Hughes gain this week, combined with the selective WellDatabase declines in lower-priority areas, fits a pattern of disciplined activity. Companies are supporting higher output with fewer (or only slightly more) rigs than in past cycles, consistent with the post-2022 focus on free cash flow and shareholder returns rather than growth-at-all-costs.Looking ahead, expect continued selective increases in the Permian and key gas plays if prices remain supportive, while overall counts stay range-bound. That combination should keep U.S. production climbing gradually into late 2026 without the oversupply risks of earlier boom periods.

At Energy News Beat, we continue to track all three sources weekly because the methodological differences themselves reveal useful information about how activity is evolving on the ground. We highly recommend Welldatabase.com as a great resource. Sign up today for a free account, and we love the subscription data.

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