Drilling Intelligence API

Overview

Comprehensive drilling activity data including rig counts, frac spreads, well permits, and DUC (Drilled but Uncompleted) wells. Essential intelligence for energy traders, E&P companies, and market analysts tracking North American oil & gas production trends.

Access Level: Premium (Scale plan only)

Available Endpoints

Endpoint	Description	Update Frequency
`/v1/drilling-intelligence/latest`	All drilling metrics summary	Weekly/Monthly
`/v1/rig-counts/latest`	Latest rig count data	Weekly (Fridays)
`/v1/drilling-intelligence/frac-spreads`	Active frac spread counts	Monthly
`/v1/drilling-intelligence/well-permits`	New well permit data	Monthly
`/v1/drilling-intelligence/duc-wells`	DUC well inventory	Monthly
`/v1/drilling-intelligence/completions`	Wells completed by basin	Monthly
`/v1/drilling-intelligence/wells-drilled`	Wells drilled by basin	Monthly

Authentication

All drilling intelligence endpoints require premium API access:

curl -X GET "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/drilling-intelligence/latest" \
  -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

Rig Counts

Latest Rig Counts

GET /v1/rig-counts/latest

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "us": {
      "total": 625,
      "oil": 502,
      "gas": 119,
      "miscellaneous": 4,
      "week_change": -3,
      "year_ago": 734
    },
    "canada": {
      "total": 218,
      "oil": 142,
      "gas": 76,
      "week_change": 5,
      "year_ago": 195
    },
    "international": {
      "total": 843,
      "month_change": 12,
      "year_ago": 798
    },
    "metadata": {
      "source": "Baker Hughes",
      "release_date": "2025-09-20",
      "next_release": "2025-09-27"
    }
  }
}

Historical Rig Counts

GET /v1/rig-counts/historical?period=52w
GET /v1/rig-counts/historical?period=15y
GET /v1/rig-counts/historical?by_period=2020-01-01,2026-08-01

period is a relative window using d, w, m, or y and may span up to 15 years (for example 16w, 52w, 5y, 15y). by_period takes an explicit YYYY-MM-DD,YYYY-MM-DD range with the same 15-year ceiling. Do not combine the two. Longer windows are rejected with HTTP 422:

{
  "status": "fail",
  "data": {
    "error": "Unsupported period. Use a relative period up to 15 years (for example 16w, 52w, 5y, or 15y)."
  }
}

Results are paginated at up to 100 observations per page; pagination (page, per_page, total, total_pages) and Link headers (rel="first", "next", "last") traverse larger windows. The period object distinguishes the requested window from what is actually held:

{
  "period": {
    "from": "2011-08-30",
    "to": "2026-08-30",
    "relative": "15y",
    "coverage_from": "2013-01-04",
    "coverage_to": "2026-08-28",
    "earliest_available": "2013-01-04",
    "observations": 713,
    "complete": false
  }
}

Field	Description
`from` / `to`	The requested window
`coverage_from` / `coverage_to`	First and last observation dates actually returned for the window
`earliest_available`	Oldest weekly observation held for the series
`observations`	Number of observations in the window
`complete`	`false` when the requested window starts before `earliest_available`

Frac Spreads

Active hydraulic fracturing crew counts by major basin:

GET /v1/drilling-intelligence/frac-spreads

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "total_us": 265,
    "by_basin": {
      "permian": 145,
      "eagle_ford": 35,
      "bakken": 28,
      "haynesville": 22,
      "marcellus": 18,
      "other": 17
    },
    "month_change": -8,
    "year_ago": 290,
    "metadata": {
      "data_date": "2025-09-01",
      "source": "Primary Vision"
    }
  }
}

Well Permits

New drilling permits issued by state:

GET /v1/drilling-intelligence/well-permits

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "total_permits": 4250,
    "by_state": {
      "texas": 1850,
      "new_mexico": 620,
      "north_dakota": 380,
      "oklahoma": 425,
      "colorado": 290,
      "wyoming": 185,
      "other": 500
    },
    "month_over_month": {
      "absolute": 125,
      "percentage": 3.0
    },
    "oil_vs_gas": {
      "oil_permits": 3200,
      "gas_permits": 1050
    },
    "metadata": {
      "period": "2025-08",
      "source": "State Regulatory Agencies"
    }
  }
}

DUC Wells (Drilled but Uncompleted)

Inventory of wells drilled but awaiting completion:

GET /v1/drilling-intelligence/duc-wells

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "total_duc_wells": 4435,
    "by_basin": {
      "permian": {
        "count": 893,
        "month_change": -45,
        "months_inventory": 3.2
      },
      "eagle_ford": {
        "count": 345,
        "month_change": -12,
        "months_inventory": 4.1
      },
      "bakken": {
        "count": 328,
        "month_change": -8,
        "months_inventory": 5.5
      },
      "niobrara": {
        "count": 287,
        "month_change": 5,
        "months_inventory": 4.8
      }
    },
    "trends": {
      "three_month": "declining",
      "six_month": "declining",
      "completion_rate": "accelerating"
    },
    "metadata": {
      "data_date": "2025-08-31",
      "source": "EIA Drilling Productivity Report",
      "next_release": "2025-09-15"
    }
  }
}

Wells Completed

Latest EIA wells-completed series by basin. Requires the Scale plan. No query parameters — the endpoint always returns the most recent complete EIA report month, per basin plus a REST_LOWER48 remainder.

GET /v1/drilling-intelligence/completions

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "completions": [
      {
        "code": "PERMIAN_WELLS_COMPLETED",
        "name": "Permian Wells Completed",
        "value": 484,
        "unit": "wells completed",
        "source": "eia_dpr",
        "created_at": "2026-08-11T16:15:20.784Z",
        "collected_at": "2026-08-11T16:15:20.784Z",
        "observed_at": "2026-07-01T12:00:00.000Z",
        "source_date": "2026-07-01",
        "formatted_date": "2026-07-01 12:00:00 UTC"
      }
    ],
    "summary": {
      "total": 1066,
      "by_basin": {
        "APPALACHIA": 90,
        "BAKKEN": 69,
        "EAGLEFORD": 117,
        "HAYNESVILLE": 66,
        "PERMIAN": 484,
        "REST_LOWER48": 240
      },
      "period_type": "monthly",
      "last_updated": "2026-08-11T16:15:20.850Z",
      "source": "eia_dpr",
      "source_date": "2026-07-01",
      "status": "complete",
      "quarter": {
        "available": true,
        "status": "complete",
        "period": "2026-Q2",
        "source_start_date": "2026-04-01",
        "source_end_date": "2026-06-01",
        "collected_at": "2026-08-11T16:15:23.795Z",
        "total": 3069,
        "by_basin": {
          "APPALACHIA": 283,
          "BAKKEN": 220,
          "EAGLEFORD": 323,
          "HAYNESVILLE": 186,
          "PERMIAN": 1397,
          "REST_LOWER48": 660
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The quarter object rolls the last three complete report months into a calendar-quarter total. When no complete EIA well-activity report month is available, the endpoint returns HTTP 503 rather than partial data.

Wells Drilled

Latest EIA wells-drilled series by basin. Requires the Scale plan. Same response shape as completions, with the data array keyed wells_drilled and units of wells drilled.

GET /v1/drilling-intelligence/wells-drilled

Response (abbreviated):

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "wells_drilled": [
      {
        "code": "PERMIAN_WELLS_DRILLED",
        "name": "Permian Wells Drilled",
        "value": 484,
        "unit": "wells drilled",
        "source": "eia_dpr",
        "observed_at": "2026-07-01T12:00:00.000Z",
        "source_date": "2026-07-01"
      }
    ],
    "summary": {
      "total": 1024,
      "by_basin": {
        "APPALACHIA": 67,
        "BAKKEN": 58,
        "EAGLEFORD": 121,
        "HAYNESVILLE": 56,
        "PERMIAN": 484,
        "REST_LOWER48": 238
      },
      "period_type": "monthly",
      "source": "eia_dpr",
      "status": "complete"
    }
  }
}

Both endpoints return HTTP 401 without a valid API key, HTTP 403 on plans below Scale, and HTTP 503 when no complete authoritative EIA report month is available.

Summary Endpoint

Get all drilling intelligence metrics in one call:

GET /v1/drilling-intelligence/summary

Market Impact Analysis

Leading Indicators

Metric	Increasing	Decreasing
Rig Count	Higher future production	Lower future production
Frac Spreads	Near-term production boost	Production slowdown
Well Permits	Future drilling activity up	Future drilling down
DUC Wells	Potential for quick production	Completions outpacing drilling

Typical Lead Times

Rig Count → Production: 4-6 months
Frac Spreads → Production: 1-3 months
Permits → Drilling: 6-12 months
DUC Completions → Production: 2-4 weeks

Rate Limits

Requests: 60 requests per rolling 60-second window per API key on all plans
Cache: 5 minutes for real-time, 1 hour for historical

Example Usage

Python - Production Forecast

import requests

def analyze_production_outlook():
    headers = {'Authorization': 'Token YOUR_API_KEY'}

    # Get drilling intelligence
    response = requests.get(
        'https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/drilling-intelligence/summary',
        headers=headers
    )
    data = response.json()

    # Simple production outlook
    rig_trend = data['rig_counts']['us']['week_change']
    duc_trend = data['duc_wells']['total_change']

    if rig_trend > 0 and duc_trend < 0:
        return "Bullish: Rigs up, DUCs being completed"
    elif rig_trend < 0 and duc_trend > 0:
        return "Bearish: Rigs down, DUCs building"
    else:
        return "Neutral: Mixed signals"

JavaScript - Basin Comparison

async function compareBasins() {
  const response = await fetch(
    "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/drilling-intelligence/completions",
    {
      headers: {
        Authorization: "Token YOUR_API_KEY",
      },
    },
  );
  const { data } = await response.json();

  // Find the basin completing the most wells this report month
  const mostActive = Object.entries(data.summary.by_basin).sort(
    (a, b) => b[1] - a[1],
  )[0];

  console.log(
    `Most active basin: ${mostActive[0]} with ${mostActive[1]} wells completed`,
  );
}

Error Codes

Code	Description
401	Invalid or missing API key
403	Premium access required
404	Data not found
429	Rate limit exceeded
503	Data temporarily unavailable

Data Sources

Rig Counts: Baker Hughes (weekly, Fridays at noon CST)
Frac Spreads: Primary Vision (monthly)
Well Permits: State regulatory agencies (monthly)
DUC Wells: EIA Drilling Productivity Report (monthly)

/v1/prices/latest?code=WTI_USD - WTI crude oil price
/v1/prices/latest?code=NATURAL_GAS_USD - Natural gas price
/v1/storage/cushing - Cushing oil storage levels