Another, albeit small, rise in the number of rigs in operation in North America supported a month-on-month rise in the worldwide Baker Hughes, a GE company monthly rig count for August, monitored by Kallanish. The international rig count, covering global regions excluding North America, again showed a small reduction in working rigs.

The number of rigs operating in the US in August actually fell slightly, but this was compensated by another hike in numbers in Canada. Baker Hughes, a GE company points out that the rig count was completed on 25 August, before Hurricane Harvey hit Texas.

The North American rig count for the month was 1,164, an increase of 13 (1.1%) m-o-m and up by 554 (90.8%) y-o-y. The international rig count for August 2017 was 952, seven less than the 959 counted in July, but up by 15 (1.6%) from the 937 rigs counted in August 2016.

The worldwide rig count for August 2017 was 2,116 therefore, up 6 from the 2,110 counted in July and up 569 (36.8%) from the 1,547 counted in the same period 12 months ago.

Internationally, rig counts grew in Europe m-o-m by 9 to 91. In Asia Pacific numbers remained flat at 195, same basis. The Middle East saw numbers fall on-month by -6 rigs to 391, as did Latin America (-5), and Africa (-5) on the same comparison. The second largest region in terms of rig numbers after North America, the Middle East, had 391 rigs working in August 2017, 12 more than in August 2016.

The Baker Hughes, a GE Company Rotary Rig Counts assess the number of rotary drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States, Canada and international markets.