Cenovus Energy Inc. emerged as the top driller in Western Canada during Q1 2025, maintaining robust activity levels across its oil sands and conventional heavy oil assets. The company recorded 266 drilling operations in Q1 2025, marking a 9% increase from 244 in Q1 2024 Oil Gas Leads.
This week’s rig count reflects a market in transition—steady oil drilling in some regions, sharp pullbacks in gas, and an overall trend of strategic restraint by operators. With the Permian Basin hitting a two-year low in rig activity and gas drilling at its weakest point since late 2024
Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE: LBRT), one of the largest U.S. shale fracking companies, reported its lowest earnings in three years, underscoring the pressure that lower oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty are placing on the North American energy sector.
ccording to licensing data, Q1 2025 saw a marked increase in drilling license activity, with over 1,565 new licenses issued between January and March. That’s a notable uptick compared to the average monthly volume seen in late 2024.
Our team tracked 878 drilling records in Q1 2025, a 2.7% increase over Q1 2024, signalling renewed investment and confidence across the patch.
This week’s rig count reflects a market in transition—steady oil drilling in some regions, sharp pullbacks in gas, and an overall trend of strategic restraint by operators. With the Permian Basin hitting a two-year low in rig activity and gas drilling at its weakest point since late 2024
Helmerich & Payne led the field with 580 wells drilled, followed by Patterson-UTI, Nabors, Ensign, and AKITA. These five contractors together accounted for nearly 75% of all wells drilled in Q1 2025.
One of the most notable trends in recent years has been the acceleration of multi-well stimulation strategies—techniques where multiple wells are fractured simultaneously. From DualFrac to QuadFrac, what began as isolated pilots has now become an industry-wide shift toward efficiency, consistency, and scale.
Chevron has begun scaling up a cutting-edge well completion strategy known as triple-frac, which fractures three wells at the same time. After a successful pilot in 2024, the company now plans to use the technique on 50% to 60% of its Permian wells in 2025—up from just 20% last year.
The first quarter of 2025 saw a slight dip in drilling activity across the Haynesville region compared to the same period in 2024.
