Daily Canada Drilling Intelligence
Canada recorded 13 spuds on April 29, well below the 30-day average of 21.4 per day and down sharply from 22 the prior day, consistent with spring breakup constraints limiting equipment movement across Western Canada. The weekly pace of 58 spuds trails last week's 81, reinforcing a seasonal deceleration pattern. Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Headwater Exploration Inc. led activity with three wells each, followed by Strathcona Resources Ltd. with two. On a year-to-date basis, 3,559 spuds have been recorded versus 4,336 at the same point in 2025, a gap of approximately 17.9% that warrants monitoring as the spring slowdown works through the system.
Fleet Snapshot
Key Numbers
7-Day Activity
Outlook
Near-term spud activity is likely to remain below the 30-day average as spring breakup road bans persist into early May, a pattern consistent with typical Western Canada seasonal norms. The 17.9% year-over-year deficit in YTD spuds is the more consequential figure to track once ground conditions firm up and the industry's post-breakup reactivation pace becomes clearer in the weeks ahead.
Drilling Activity
Alberta accounted for eight of the 13 spuds and Saskatchewan the remaining five, with British Columbia absent from today's tally. Lloydminster was the most active field with five wells, followed by St. Albert with three and Bonnyville and Grande Prairie with two each. Horizontal drilling continues to dominate the licence pipeline at 66.7% of today's 18 new Alberta licences, with the Petroleum Member and ER formations leading target selection. Predator Drilling Inc. topped contractor activity with three wells, while Ensign and Precision Drilling each contributed two, reflecting a relatively concentrated service-sector footprint on a light-activity day.
The active rig count stood at 137 as of April 24, down two week-over-week and extending a gradual four-week decline from 140 on April 6, with Alberta hosting 121 of those rigs and the oil-directed fleet outnumbering gas at 78 versus 52. A modest seasonal pullback of this magnitude is typical for late April spring breakup, and the pace of decline has been orderly rather than abrupt.
Production
January 2026 crude oil output reached 24.06 million cubic metres while oil sands production came in at 6.54 million cubic metres, with pipeline throughput data showing Keystone running at full 100% utilization at 98,250 m³/day and Enbridge Line 9 operating at roughly 81% capacity, while Trans Mountain reported zero throughput in the latest available data.
Spuds by Field
Production
Pipeline Utilization
Top Operators
Top Contractors
Wells Spudded
New Licences12 horizontal
Wells by Province
Updated automatically from AER, BCER, Statistics Canada, Baker Hughes, CAOEC, Petrinex