René Muschter
Research Expert covering Industry & Mobility
Global oil rig industry - statistics & facts
Worldwide oil rig numbers have been net declining since 2014, when the oil boom led to a spike in rig deployment not seen since 1985. In 2024, the average number of active oil rigs was 1,734 units, roughly half of what it had been in 2014. The oil rig industry is part of the oilfield equipment and service sector. Oil rigs or oil platforms refer to the machinery used to identify reservoirs and extract crude oil and natural gas from the earth’s surface or seabed. While rigs used to be stationary in the past, today, mobile offshore production units have become more and more common. The global oil rig fleet is largely made up of jackups, a type of mobile rig.
