A huge slump in the number of onshore rigs operating in Canada last month led to a sizeable month-to-month falloff in the amount of units working worldwide, according to a report.

The average number of rigs operating onshore Canada in March was 252, down appreciably from the 340 in February, although well ahead of the 85 in March 2015, Baker Hughes said in its latest monthly rig report.

Only one rig operated in the Canadian offshore in March, down from two in February and three in March last year.

It was a different story in the US, however, which continued to pile on tonnage as key basins like the Permian and Delaware sub-basin remained extremely active. The average number of units operating onshore US last month was 770, well up on the 724 in February and a massive hike on the 451 in March 2015.

However, the drop in Canada meant the overall rig count – both onshore and offshore – for North American slipped month-on-month from 1086 to 1052, with 566 seen in March 2015.

Elsewhere activity was relatively flat, with the total number of international rigs up from 941 in February to 943 in March, which itself was a drop from 895 a year earlier.

Worldwide the total number of rigs was down from February’s 2027 to 1985, with 1551 seen in March two years ago.

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Canada onshore drop hurts rig count