CIR Research Desk

The Baker Hughes rig count is the most widely cited real-time indicator of upstream activity in the United States, published weekly every Friday. As February 2026 closes, the count provides the clearest signal yet of how operators are executing on the 2026 capital programs they outlined during Q4 earnings. February

The history of U.S. shale development is, in part, a history of infrastructure catching up to production. Every time a new basin broke out — Permian, Haynesville, Marcellus, Bakken — the initial production surge ran ahead of takeaway capacity, creating basis blowouts and stranded production before midstream caught up. The 2026