The count came out at noon. 588 rigs turning nationwide. No change on the week.

267 of them are in the Permian.

The Number

One patch of West Texas and southeast New Mexico is running 45 percent of the drilling in this country.

Just under half the oil this nation produces comes out of it.

And It Is Still Climbing

Four straight weeks of gains. Most rigs the Permian has turned since June of last year, and 29 above where it bottomed out in February.

Texas as a whole sits at 282. Highest the state has held since February 2025.

What The Top Line Missed

Nationally the count went flat this week. Oil rigs down 5, gas rigs up 5. Read the headline and you would think nothing moved anywhere in the country.

The work is not disappearing. It is concentrating.

What It Pays

Texas ran 476,777 oil and gas jobs last year at an average wage of 133,439. That is 74 percent above the average private sector job in the state.

10,951 industry job postings went up in Texas in July alone.

The Catch

Rigs turning is not crews fracking. Frac spreads nationally are down to 184 and Texas upstream jobs slipped in July. August is usually the soft month before a fall rebound.

The Board Tonight

Crude finished the week lower, WTI off more than 4 percent. Gas held its ground, and gas rigs were the only thing in the country that gained this week.

Wednesday we put North Dakota's number up. 26 rigs in mid July, 36 turning now. That report is here.

Two basins that have nothing to do with each other, both running more iron than they were a month ago.

Who's Hiring

Ten companies on the board this week. Hot oil, winch, crude hauling, roustabout, mechanic, dispatch, hydrotest. One of them runs company housing.

The full board with every apply link is on the DHR jobs page.

Field Report

Drop your basin and what your yard looks like right now.

Permian hands especially...rigs going back to work near you, or steady as it has been.