The US Rig Count Went Up 7 In 2 Weeks. North Dakota Went Up 7.

Baker Hughes put the US count at 595 Friday. Two weeks ago it was 588.

North Dakota went 24 to 31 over those same two weeks.

Friday's Board

• US RIG COUNT...595
• NORTH DAKOTA, BAKER HUGHES...31
• NORTH DAKOTA, OUR RIG PAGE...32
• WILLISTON...35
• PERMIAN...269
• FRAC SPREADS...187
• WTI...100.30

Two Counts, Two Different Numbers

Our own rig page says 32 today. It said 37 on September 2. That is our count off the state's active rig list, and it is not the number Baker Hughes publishes.

Baker Hughes only counts a rig on location turning to the right at least 4 days out of 7. Iron in transit or rigging up does not make their list. The state's list shows what is on the board.

So from mid August on, the state's list ran 32 to 37 while Baker Hughes held at 24. That gap was rigs already here and not making hole yet.

This week the two met. Baker Hughes 31, our count 32.

The rigs did not show up in the last 2 weeks. They showed up in August and just started drilling.

The Part Worth Sitting With

On the Baker Hughes side, North Dakota held at exactly 24 for 10 straight weeks. July 2 through September 4.

Then 28. Then 31.

Their weekly county file goes back to January 2024. In 142 weeks of it, no other 2 week gain in this state is that big. The Williston went 27 to 35 and nothing matches that either.

The Williston box is wider than the state line. 31 in North Dakota, 4 in Montana, 0 in South Dakota. That is the 35.

The Rest Of The Country

595 is the highest US count since May 2024 and the second straight build.

Texas lost 1 to 283. New Mexico added 3 to 95. The Permian added 1 to 269. Oklahoma and Wyoming did not move. Canada dropped 10.

The national number went up. The gain did not come from where it usually comes from.

The Completion Side

Rigs drill the hole. Crews come behind them and pump the well.

Primary Vision counts 187 spreads pumping nationally, up 3. Two builds in a row after four down weeks, still short of the 205 this count hit July 2.

Last time we put that number up it was 184 in late August. Before that, 189 on June 1.

What It Means On Location

A rig moving in is not a paycheck yet.

The hole gets drilled. Then it sits. Then a crew shows up and pumps it.

And the holes are not what they used to be. The state counts 1,485 permits issued for 3 mile laterals and 374 for 4 mile wells, 81 of those 4 mile wells completed. About 44% of permits are 3 mile now and 9% are 4 mile.

That is the state's own Mineral Resources data, off its August Director's Cut.

Longer lateral means more footage off the same rig and more stages for the crew that pumps it.

The Catch

More wells does not automatically mean more hands.

In the Permian last year the spread count averaged around 100 crews, about 3% over 2024. Those crews completed roughly 6,800 wells, 13% more than the year before. Simulfrac made up the difference.

That is the American Petroleum Institute's number, not ours.

Why They Came Back

WTI settled at 100.30 Friday. Operators told the Dallas Fed this year they need about 66 dollars to drill a new well and make money.

The state's last Director's Cut had completions at 74 in July, up from 65 in June and 55 in May. Operators running rigs went from 14 to 19, five of them new to North Dakota.

The next Director's Cut drops Monday.

Who's Hiring

Outfits are hiring in North Dakota, Wyoming and Texas this week, including seats that need no CDL.

The current board is the one to check.

Field Report

Drop your basin and what you are seeing on location this week.

New iron moving in or stacking out, spreads pumping or sitting, your outfit adding hands?

Hands, tell us whose rigs you watched move in during August.