Baker Hughes June 5 Count: US Oil Rigs Rise to 431 as Permian Leads Despite WTI Settling at $90

Baker Hughes released its weekly North American rig count on Friday, showing US oil rigs climbed to 431 for the week ending June 5, 2026. That is a gain of two from the prior week count of 429. Total US active rigs reached 563, a one-rig net gain on the week.

Weekly US Breakdown

Oil rigs gained two to reach 431, while gas rigs fell one to 124 and miscellaneous rigs held steady at eight. The 563 total is four rigs above the 559 counted in the comparable week a year earlier, according to Baker Hughes data published by the American Oil and Gas Reporter. That narrow year-over-year gap reflects the capital discipline US operators have maintained through a turbulent pricing cycle.

WTI crude oil settled at $90.20 per barrel on Friday's CME close, down 3.07 percent on the day, according to Trading Economics. Brent crude settled at $93.00 per barrel, down 2.14 percent. Both benchmarks declined as optimism over a potential Iran-US ceasefire memorandum of understanding weighed on the geopolitical premium that had supported Brent above $94 on Thursday.

Permian Basin Holds the Active Core

The Permian Basin continued to drive US oil-directed activity. In the week ending May 29, the most recently published basin-level data, New Mexico added five rigs and Texas added one, generating a net Permian gain of five on the week, according to Baker Hughes data published by Rigzone. ExxonMobil ran approximately 34 rigs in the Permian as of late April 2026, according to East Daley Analytics, making it the most active single operator in the basin.

ExxonMobil's Permian position consolidates two major acquisitions. XTO Energy, acquired in 2010, supplies the company's unconventional drilling expertise across the Midland and Delaware sub-basins. Pioneer Natural Resources, acquired in May 2024 for approximately $59.5 billion, added roughly 700,000 net acres concentrated in the Midland Basin. East Daley found that ExxonMobil accounts for over half of the supply growth that public Permian operators guided in 2026, targeting an addition of roughly 113,000 barrels per day year-over-year.

Devon-Coterra Merger Reshapes Delaware Basin Competition

Devon Energy closed its all-stock merger with Coterra Energy on May 7, 2026, creating the largest Delaware Basin operator by acreage. The combined entity holds approximately 750,000 net acres in the Delaware and carries a multi-basin portfolio spanning the Eagle Ford, Anadarko Basin, Williston Basin, Powder River Basin, and Marcellus Shale. Devon expects to capture $1 billion in annual pre-tax synergies from the combination by year-end 2027.

ExxonMobil and Devon now represent the two largest footprints in the Permian. ExxonMobil concentrates in the Midland Basin, running 26 of its 34 Permian rigs there. Devon's strength lies in the Delaware. Both operations share the same cost floor: the Permian Basin average breakeven price of approximately $51.60 per barrel, according to Statista's 2026 data on US oilfield economics.

Breakeven Math at Friday's WTI Close

At Friday's $90.20 WTI settlement, Permian operators carry a gross margin of roughly $38.60 per barrel above the $51.60 basin breakeven. Goldman Sachs targets Brent at $82 per barrel for the third quarter of 2026. At the current Brent-WTI spread of roughly $2.80, that implies a WTI price near $79. Even at $79 WTI, the Permian average breakeven would preserve a gross margin of approximately $27.40 per barrel, according to Oil Authority calculations using sourced data.

Gas rig activity tells a different story. The 124 active US gas rigs reflect a one-unit weekly decline. Weaker economics tied to the negative Waha hub basis are compounding pressure on gas-directed drilling. Waha traded at roughly negative $4.26 per MMBtu for the summer 2026 strip as of late May, according to AEGIS Hedging research.

Canada and North America Context

Canadian rig activity stood at 162 for the week ending May 29, a jump of 24 on the week and 50 rigs above the comparable week in 2025. The year-over-year surge reflects expanded Pacific export capacity following the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline commissioning in 2024. Combined North American rig activity reached 724 for that week, with the June 5 US count of 563 pointing toward a higher North America total when Canada's June 5 figure is published.