Capability

The rig count is a survey.
The pad is a fact.

Rigs and frac crews, counted from orbit.

Published rig counts depend on who responds, miss much of the private activity and arrive after the move has started. SynMax counts what is actually on the pad, for every operator, so a change in activity reaches you while it is still a change in activity rather than a line in next quarter’s report.

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All capabilities

Illustrative side-by-side maps of the Permian: a survey sees only some pads, while observation shows every pad and its status — Same basin, two views: what a survey sees, and what is on the pad. Illustrative positions, not actual data.

The Problem

Counts you cannot verify are counts you cannot trade.

Published rig counts are surveys. They miss private operators, lag the move, and tell you nothing about whether the crew on site is actually completing a well.

Seen, not surveyed

Equipment on the pad is detected directly, so the count does not depend on who chose to respond.

Ahead of the filing

A crew arriving on location is visible immediately; the completion report follows much later.

Whole-basin coverage

Public and private operators are treated the same way, because the measurement does not ask permission.

Activity, not just presence

Distinguishing a rig from an active frac spread from a DUC awaiting completion is what makes the count usable.

Ahead of the Survey

See the turn before the survey does.

Activity rarely changes direction all at once. A few operators drop a crew, a few more defer completions, and the basin trend bends weeks later. Because the observed count is built pad by pad, that bend shows up as it starts, not when the next survey or filing confirms it.

For a trading desk, that is time to position. For an operator or a service company, it is an early read on where the basin is heading and who is driving it.

Illustrative chart: the observed count of active frac crews runs continuously and turns first, while the published survey count is lower, stepped and lagged — The observed count turns first. The survey count arrives later and misses private operators. Illustrative, not actual data.

How It Works

Detect, classify, count.

01 / DETECT

Find the equipment

High-revisit imagery across producing basins picks up rigs, frac spreads and supporting infrastructure on the pad.

02 / CLASSIFY

Say what it is

Models separate drilling from completion from idle equipment, and attribute each pad to an operator and a well.

03 / COUNT

Track the trend

Counts roll up by operator, county and basin with history attached, so a shift reads against its own baseline.

Illustrative map of the Permian Basin with well pads classified as drilling, frac crew on pad, drilled but uncompleted, or producing, with new crews highlighted as they are observed — Every pad across the basin, classified the same way whoever operates it, with new crews flagged as they arrive. Illustrative positions, not actual data.

Whole-Basin Coverage

Every pad. Every operator.

Public operators report on their own schedule. Private operators disclose far less, and their activity is often the hardest part of a basin to see.

Observation does not depend on disclosure, so every pad is classified the same way: drilling, crew on location, drilled but waiting on completion, or producing. Roll it up by operator, county or basin and the history comes with it, so each change reads against its own baseline.

Coverage

What is in the count.

Activity observed on the pad, classified and attributed, then rolled up so a change reads against its own history.

GRANULARITY

Pad to basin

Counts roll up by operator, county and basin.

CLASSIFICATION

Rig, spread or DUC

Drilling, active completion and drilled but uncompleted wells, told apart.

OPERATORS

Public and private

Every operator is measured the same way, because the measurement does not ask permission.

ATTRIBUTION

Operator and well

Each pad is tied to the operator and the well it belongs to.

HISTORY

Against its baseline

Counts carry their history, so a shift reads against its own trend.

DELIVERY

Where you work

Platform, agents, API, Snowflake or Excel.

In the Platform

Activity, on one screen.

Pad status across a basin, the crew trend and the operators moving it, in one view.

Start from the basin and narrow to a county or an operator, with the history attached. When a crew arrives on a pad you are watching, it shows up here before it reaches a filing.

Illustrative dashboard: a map of Permian well pads by status, a monthly trend of active frac crews, and the operators with the biggest change in frac activity — Illustrative dashboard with synthesized data.

Who Uses It

One count, three decisions.

The same pad-level record answers different questions depending on the desk asking.

Upstream teams

Watch offset operators and acquisition targets as crews arrive, and check the activity claims in a data room against the pad. Alerts flag a frac crew on a location you care about before anything is filed.

Trading desks

Read the direction of supply before surveys and production data confirm it, with the operators behind each move. Completions observed today become the production you will price next.

Lenders and investors

Check that an operator is running the activity it guided to. Each finding comes with the observation behind it, so a call on a position rests on evidence rather than on the borrower’s update.

Use Cases

What you can ask it.

When did a frac crew arrive on this pad?

Which basins show a change in completion activity?

How many DUCs is this operator carrying?

Which competitor wells look delayed against public expectations?

Is this operator running the rig count they guided to?

How long from spud to completion on this acreage?

FAQ

Questions buyers ask.

How is this different from a published rig count?

Published counts are surveys. They depend on who responds, miss private operators and lag the move. This count starts with equipment detected on the pad, so every operator is counted on the same basis.

What does it detect?

Rigs, frac spreads and supporting infrastructure on the pad, classified as drilling, completion or idle, with drilled but uncompleted wells tracked until a crew arrives.

How soon does a change show up?

A crew arriving on location is visible once it is observed. The completion report that confirms it follows much later.

Can I get an alert when a crew arrives?

Yes. Watch a pad, an operator or an area and get notified when a frac crew shows up.

How does activity connect to production?

Completions are the leading edge of supply. The activity observed here feeds the well-level forecasts in Production Monitoring.

How do I get the data?

In the platform, through agents, by API, in Snowflake or in Excel, so the answer arrives in the system your team already uses.

Get Started

Put a crew-level count behind your call.

Tell us the basin or the operator you need watched and we will show you the observed activity count against the published one.