US gas rig counts are climbing while oil rigs continue to decline
A look at a divergence that is slowly but steadily reshaping the US oilfield
In the third quarter of 2024, the US had 98 natural gas-directed drilling rigs in active operation.
So far in the third quarter of 2025? That number is up to 118.
A 20% year-over-year (YoY) jump in the gas rig count is notable, particularly when oil rigs have declined by 14% in the same period.
In this post, we’ll look at what’s happened to quarterly-average oil and gas rig counts here in the US since the beginning of 2018.
We’ll then discuss just how much changes in oil and gas prices have to do with these rig count changes.
Finally, we have a filled map view that will show us, county-by-county, where gas rig counts have been increasing and decreasing.
With 2026 planning season underway, let’s explore this bit of natural gas momentum, a dynamic that is slowly but surely remaking the US oilfield as we know it.
A real divergence in oil and gas rig counts has emerged in 2025
In the chart below I show the quarterly average count for both US oil-directed and gas-directed rigs since the beginning of 2018. Oil is the dark line mapping to the left axis. Gas is the orange line mapping to the right axis.
