JPM Shale Land Rig Analysis: Analyzing Activity Trends by Operator, Basin, and Drilling Contractor: U.S. Land Activity Sees -3 Rig Decline WoW, Despite +4 Rig Adds From Privates

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

North America Equity Research

10 August 2026

JPM Shale Land Rig Analysis

Analyzing Activity Trends by Operator, Basin, and

Drilling Contractor: U.S. Land Activity Sees -3 Rig

Decline WoW, Despite +4 Rig Adds From Privates

JPM View: This week, we observed overall U.S. land activity drop by -3 rigs

WoW, despite a +4 rig addition from Private E&Ps which was overshadowed by

a -6 rig decline from Public E&Ps and a -1 rig decline from Majors. As highlighted

in Figure 1, there were 612 rigs operating in the U.S. over the past week, with

Private E&Ps operating 327 rigs (54%), Public E&Ps with 198 rigs (32%), and

Majors with 87 rigs (14%). Over the past week, we have observed a -3 rig decline

across U.S. land rig activity, driven by Appalachia dropping -2 rigs, Haynesville

dropping -1 rig, and Williston dropping -1 rig. Other basins also dropped -3 rigs

WoW. These declines were partially offset by a +3 rig addition in the Delaware

Basin. Among public drilling contractors, notable changes included both HP and

NBR dropping -2 rigs each WoW. HP is the most active U.S. drilling contractor

with 147 active rigs, followed by PTEN (92 rigs), NBR (73 rigs), PD (39 rigs), and

ESI (36 rigs). We note that PTEN reported 102 active rigs as of today, which

compares to the 92 rigs reported by Enverus. In terms of the Private E&P mix, PD

is the most levered to Private operators among the 5 key drillers with 79% of its rigs

contracted by Privates. PTEN has over half of its rigs contracted by Privates (58%),

but this includes 21 rigs with Mewbourne (36% Private mix ex-Mewbourne). On

the other hand, NBR has 67% of its rigs contracted by Publics and Majors as

compared to HP at 66% and ESI at 55%.

Majors decreased activity by -1 rig WoW, while Privates added +4 rigs and

Publics dropped -6 rigs over the past week. Among major operators (Exxon,

Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, Total, and ENI), the active rig count has declined

by -1 rig WoW, driven by COP and CVX dropping -1 rig each. Private E&Ps

increased activity by +4 rigs while Public E&Ps decreased activity by -6 rigs

over the week. Majors maintained their gas rigs and oil rigs, while also

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