US Oil Drillers See Pullback as Oil Prices Rise

By Julianne Geiger - Aug 21, 2026, 12:16 PM CDT The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, with the total rig count in the US falling to 588, up 50 from this same time last year.The number of active oil rigs fell by 3, sinking to 452 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 41 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 1 to 127, which is 5 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs fell by 1 to 9.The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production rose during the week ending August 14. US crude oil production averaged 13.830 million bpd during the reporting period, up from 13.805 million bpd last week and up 503,000 bpd from a year ago.Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell by 3 in the week ending August 14, to 193 crews, after gaining 2 in the week prior.The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 2 in the reporting period, hitting 267. This is 12 rigs above year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford rose by 1 to 50, which is 11 more than this same time last year. Oil prices were up on Friday with Brent now trading at $94.23 (+0.48%) per barrel. This is up nearly $7 per barrel from this time last week. WTI was also trading up on the day at $86.92 (+0.10%). By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.comChina’s Oil Imports Set to Rebound as Refiners Hunt for New SupplyIraq-Syria Oil Pipeline to Bypass Hormuz Is 4 Years and $15 Billion AwayChina's Renewables Boom Faces Record Clean Power Curtailments Download The Free Oilprice App Today Back to homepage