North Dakota Rig Count Holds at 34, Up 4 from Last Week
The state's drilling activity was unchanged on Friday, with one rig moving location in Mountrail County, as the national rig count posted a slight gain amid falling prices.
The number of active drilling rigs in North Dakota held steady at 34 on Friday, October 2, according to live data from Bakken Wire. There were no new rigs added or removed in the last 24 hours, though one rig did move to a new location.
The sole rig move reported was for Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC, which relocated the NABORS X-10 rig to location 157-93-17 in Mountrail County.
The current count represents a net increase of four rigs from one week ago, when the state reported 30 active rigs on September 25. However, activity is down by three rigs from a month ago, when the count stood at 37 on September 2.
The stability in North Dakota contrasts with a modestly mixed picture for U.S. drilling activity nationally. According to a report from OilPrice.com citing Baker Hughes data published Friday, the total number of active drilling rigs in the United States fell this week to 598. Despite the weekly drop, the national count is up 49 from the same time last year.
The number of active oil-focused rigs nationally inched up by one to 456, which is 34 more than this time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by two to 133. In other major basins, the Permian Basin count was unchanged at 270 rigs, while the Eagle Ford lost a rig for the second consecutive week, landing at 49.
The report also noted that well completion activity, as measured by Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, rose for the third consecutive week. The count of crews completing wells reached 195 for the week ending September 25, up eight from the prior week.
This drilling activity continues as U.S. crude oil production shows strength. The OilPrice.com report, citing the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data, stated that weekly U.S. crude oil production averaged 13.955 million barrels per day for the week ending September 25. This is up from 13.939 million bpd the previous week and represents an increase of 450,000 bpd from a year ago.
The drilling trends are unfolding against a backdrop of declining oil prices. OilPrice.com reported that prices were down on Friday, with Brent crude trading at $101.10 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $90.50. The price drop was attributed in part to Europe's announcement that it would release additional crude oil and diesel from emergency reserves.
Source
Bakken Wire live rig data, OilPrice.com report published October 2, 2026.
