Canadian Natural Gas Rig Count by Province 2013-2025

December 02, 2025

Canadian natural gas drilling rig count for three major provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.

The chart provides rig counts for Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan from 2013 to 2025(1Q):

Alberta: The average annual rig count in 2014 peaked at 110 rigs from 75 in 2013, reflecting higher drilling activity. The significant drop in 2020 to just 30 rigs was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2025, a modest recovery to 48 rigs is still considerably lower than peak years.
British Columbia: The rig count peaked In 2014 at 48 rigs, up slightly from 44 rigs in 2013. The pandemic also caused the BC rig count to bottom out In 2020 at just 12 rigs before rebounding slightly to 19 rigs into 2025.
Saskatchewan: 2014 saw a slight increase to 3 rigs from just 1 rig in 2013. In 2015 the count dropped to basically no rigs which carried through the 2020 pandemic year. The rig count was just 1 in 2021 recovering to 2 rigs into 2025. Currently gas drilling in Saskatchewan is very limited.

One can see the significant impact of extraneous events including the oil price crash in 2016 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Alberta has been the busiest driller over the 2013-2025 time period accounting for 71% of the total, with BC at 28% and Saskatchewan at just 1%.

References:
“North America Rig Count.”, Baker Hughes, February 2025, https://rigcount.bakerhughes.com/na-rig-count