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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.

The Bakken Shale's commercial development began in earnest around 2006–2008, when Continental Resources — under Harold Hamm's leadership — proved that horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing could unlock economic production from the tight Williston Basin formation. By 2026, the basin is roughly 18–20 years into large-

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

Natural gas producers entered 2026 with something they hadn't felt in two years: pricing power. After Henry Hub spent most of 2024 below $2.50/MMBtu — touching sub-$2.00 in early 2024 — the commodity has recovered meaningfully heading into the 2025–2026 winter. The question now is