Mumbai, Nov. 19 -- The US Energy Information Administration or EIA stated in a latest update that the average number of active rigs per month that are drilling for oil and natural gas in the US Lower 48 states has declined steadily over the past few years from a recent peak of 750 rigs in December 2022 to 517 rigs this October. The declining rig count reflects operators' responses to declining crude oil and natural gas prices and improvements in drilling efficiencies.
Since December 2022, the oil-directed rig count has dropped 33% to 397 rigs in October 2025, and the natural gas-directed rig count has declined 23% to 120 rigs over the same period. Natural gas-directed rigs dropped to 96 rigs in September last year amid historically low and...