Canadian Drilling – Rig Counts Come Roaring Back After the Holiday Break

For the week ending January 10, Baker Hughes reported that the Western Canadian gas-directed rig rose 22 to 72 (blue line and text in left hand chart below), eight less than one year ago and its largest one-week increase since the beginning of 2021. The oil-directed rig count soared by 100 to 142 (red line and text in right hand chart), 10 more than a year ago and its largest one-week gain since the beginning of 2015. The impact of drilling crews returning to rigs after the traditional end-of-year holiday break was responsible for the enormous activity gains seen this week.