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Annual Energy Review

September 2012  PDF | previous editions
Release Date: September 27, 2012

Table 4.5 Crude Oil and Natural Gas Exploratory and Development Wells, 1949-2010
Table 4.5  Crude Oil and Natural Gas Exploratory and Development Wells, 1949-2010




Year		 Wells Drilled
Successful
Wells		 Footage Drilled 1 Average Footage Drilled
Crude Oil 2 Natural Gas 3 Dry Holes 4 Total Crude Oil 2 Natural Gas 3 Dry Holes 4 Total Crude Oil 2 Natural Gas 3 Dry Holes 4 Total
Number Percent Thousand Feet Feet per Well
1949 21,352 3,363 12,597 37,312 66.2 79,428 12,437 43,754 135,619 3,720 3,698 3,473 3,635
1950 23,812 3,439 14,799 42,050 64.8 92,695 13,685 50,977 157,358 3,893 3,979 3,445 3,742
1951 23,179 3,438 17,026 43,643 61.0 95,106 13,947 63,093 172,146 4,103 4,056 3,706 3,944
1952 23,290 3,514 17,759 44,563 60.1 98,148 15,257 70,730 184,133 4,214 4,342 3,983 4,132
1953 25,323 3,968 18,449 47,740 61.4 102,136 18,248 73,862 194,245 4,033 4,599 4,004 4,069
1954 28,141 4,038 18,930 51,109 63.0 113,362 18,857 75,790 208,009 4,028 4,670 4,004 4,070
1955 30,432 4,266 20,452 55,150 62.9 121,148 19,930 85,103 226,182 3,981 4,672 4,161 4,101
1956 30,528 4,531 22,111 57,170 61.3 120,352 22,738 90,190 233,280 3,942 5,018 4,079 4,080
1957 27,364 4,475 20,156 51,995 61.2 110,043 23,836 83,167 217,045 4,021 5,326 4,126 4,174
1958 23,774 5,005 18,162 46,941 61.3 93,105 25,555 74,643 193,304 3,916 5,106 4,110 4,118
1959 24,043 4,931 18,589 47,563 60.9 94,611 26,606 79,476 200,694 3,935 5,396 4,275 4,220
1960 22,258 5,149 18,212 45,619 60.1 86,568 28,246 77,361 192,176 3,889 5,486 4,248 4,213
1961 21,437 5,486 17,331 44,254 60.8 85,626 29,292 74,716 189,633 3,994 5,339 4,311 4,285
1962 21,727 5,353 17,078 44,158 61.3 88,431 28,949 77,253 194,634 4,070 5,408 4,524 4,408
1963 20,135 4,570 16,762 41,467 59.6 81,809 24,533 76,307 182,649 4,063 5,368 4,552 4,405
1964 19,905 4,694 17,694 42,293 58.2 80,463 25,598 81,360 187,420 4,042 5,453 4,598 4,431
1965 18,065 4,482 16,226 38,773 58.2 73,322 24,931 76,629 174,882 4,059 5,562 4,723 4,510
1966 16,780 4,377 15,227 36,384 58.1 67,340 25,948 69,636 162,924 4,013 5,928 4,573 4,478
1967 15,329 3,659 13,246 32,234 58.9 58,634 21,581 61,142 141,357 3,825 5,898 4,616 4,385
1968 14,331 3,456 12,812 30,599 58.1 59,517 20,716 64,737 144,970 4,153 5,994 5,053 4,738
1969 14,368 4,083 13,736 32,187 57.3 61,582 24,162 71,364 157,108 4,286 5,918 5,195 4,881
1970 12,968 4,011 11,031 28,010 60.6 56,859 23,623 58,074 138,556 4,385 5,860 5,265 4,943
1971 11,853 3,971 10,309 26,133 60.6 49,109 23,460 54,685 127,253 4,126 5,890 5,305 4,858
1972 11,378 5,440 10,891 27,709 60.7 49,269 30,006 58,556 137,831 4,330 5,516 5,377 4,974
1973 10,167 6,933 10,320 27,420 62.4 44,416 38,045 55,761 138,223 4,369 5,488 5,403 5,041
1974 13,647 7,138 12,116 32,901 63.2 52,025 38,449 62,899 153,374 3,812 5,387 5,191 4,662
1975 16,948 8,127 13,646 38,721 64.8 66,819 44,454 69,220 180,494 3,943 5,470 5,073 4,661
1976 17,688 9,409 13,758 40,855 66.3 68,892 49,113 68,977 186,982 3,895 5,220 5,014 4,577
1977 18,745 12,122 14,985 45,852 67.3 75,451 63,686 76,728 215,866 4,025 5,254 5,120 4,708
1978 19,181 14,413 16,551 50,145 67.0 77,041 75,841 85,788 238,669 4,017 5,262 5,183 4,760
1979 20,851 15,254 16,099 52,204 69.2 82,688 80,468 81,642 244,798 3,966 5,275 5,071 4,689
1980 32,959 17,461 20,785 71,205 70.8 125,262 92,106 99,575 316,943 3,801 5,275 4,791 4,451
1981 43,887 20,250 27,953 92,090 69.6 172,167 108,353 134,934 415,454 3,923 5,351 4,827 4,511
1982 39,459 19,076 26,379 84,914 68.9 149,674 107,149 123,746 380,569 3,793 5,617 4,691 4,482
1983 37,366 14,684 24,355 76,405 68.1 136,849 78,108 105,222 320,179 3,662 5,319 4,320 4,191
1984 42,906 17,338 25,884 86,128 69.9 162,653 91,480 119,860 373,993 3,791 5,276 4,631 4,342
1985 35,261 14,324 21,211 70,796 70.0 137,728 76,293 100,388 314,409 3,906 5,326 4,733 4,441
1986 19,213 8,599 12,799 40,611 68.5 76,825 45,039 60,961 182,825 3,999 5,238 4,763 4,502
1987 16,210 8,096 11,167 35,473 68.5 66,358 42,584 53,588 162,530 4,094 5,260 4,799 4,582
1988 13,646 8,578 10,119 32,343 68.7 58,639 45,363 52,517 156,519 4,297 5,288 5,190 4,839
1989 10,230 9,522 8,236 27,988 70.6 43,266 49,081 42,099 134,446 4,229 5,154 5,112 4,804
1990 12,839 11,246 8,245 32,330 74.5 R 56,591 R 57,028 R 42,433 R 156,052 R 4,408 R 5,071 R 5,147 R 4,827
1991 12,588 9,793 7,481 29,862 74.9 R 56,196 R 51,032 R 37,750 R 144,978 R 4,464 R 5,211 R 5,046 R 4,855
1992 9,402 8,163 5,862 23,427 75.0 R 45,748 R 44,727 R 29,451 R 119,926 R 4,866 R 5,479 R 5,024 R 5,119
1993 8,856 9,839 6,096 24,791 75.4 R 44,236 R 58,240 R 31,018 R 133,494 R 4,995 R 5,919 R 5,088 R 5,385
1994 7,348 9,375 5,096 21,819 76.6 R 38,620 R 58,340 R 27,771 R 124,731 R 5,256 R 6,223 R 5,450 R 5,717
1995 8,248 8,082 4,814 21,144 77.2 R 41,076 R 49,746 R 26,349 R 117,171 R 4,980 R 6,155 R 5,473 R 5,542
1996 8,836 9,027 4,890 22,753 78.5 R 42,472 R 56,042 R 27,851 R 126,365 R 4,807 R 6,208 R 5,696 R 5,554
1997 11,206 11,498 5,874 28,578 79.4 R 56,371 R 71,270 R 33,640 R 161,281 R 5,030 R 6,198 R 5,727 R 5,644
1998 7,682 11,639 4,761 24,082 80.2 R 38,579 R 70,099 R 28,540 R 137,218 R 5,022 R 6,023 R 5,995 R 5,698
1999 4,805 12,027 3,550 20,382 82.6 R 22,024 R 60,217 R 20,608 R 102,849 4,584 R 5,007 R 5,805 R 5,046
2000 8,090 17,051 4,146 29,287 85.8 R 36,745 R 83,618 R 24,076 R 144,439 R 4,542 R 4,904 R 5,807 R 4,932
2001 8,888 22,072 4,598 35,558 87.1 R 43,172 R 110,734 R 26,221 R 180,127 R 4,857 R 5,017 R 5,703 R 5,066
2002 6,775 17,342 3,754 27,871 86.5 R 30,892 R 93,041 R 21,232 R 145,165 R 4,560 R 5,365 R 5,656 R 5,208
2003 8,129 20,722 3,982 32,833 87.9 R 38,588 R 115,916 R 22,744 R 177,248 R 4,747 R 5,594 R 5,712 R 5,398
2004 8,789 24,186 4,082 37,057 89.0 R 42,109 R 138,449 R 23,714 R 204,272 R 4,791 R 5,724 R 5,809 R 5,512
2005 10,779 R 28,590 4,653 R 44,022 89.4 R 51,449 R 163,820 R 25,044 R 240,313 R 4,773 R 5,730 R 5,382 R 5,459
2006 R 13,404 R 32,838 R 5,206 R 51,448 89.9 R 63,340 R 191,646 R 27,778 R 282,764 R 4,725 R 5,836 R 5,336 R 5,496
2007 R 13,361 R 32,719 R 4,978 R 51,058 90.3 R 64,792 R 208,907 R 27,754 R 301,453 R 4,849 R 6,385 R 5,575 R 5,904
2008 R 16,645 R 32,274 R 5,428 R 54,347 R 90.0 R 82,646 R 223,224 R 28,572 R 334,442 R 4,965 R 6,917 R 5,264 R 6,154
2009 R 11,261 R 18,234 R 3,552 R 33,047 R 89.3 R 62,771 R 156,200 R 20,520 R 239,491 R 5,574 R 8,566 R 5,777 R 7,247
2010 R 16,254 R 16,973 R 4,277 R 37,504 R 88.6 R 100,682 R 146,973 R 21,719 R 269,374 R 6,194 R 8,659 R 5,078 R 7,183
1See "Footage Drilled" in Glossary. R=Revised.  
2See "Crude Oil Well" in Glossary. Notes:  ·  2011 data for this table were not available in time for publication.  ·  Data are estimates.
·  Data are for exploratory and development wells combined; see Table 4.6 for exploratory wells only, and
Table 4.7 for development wells only.  ·  Service wells, stratigraphic tests, and core tests are excluded.
·  For 1949–1959, data represent wells completed in a given year.  For 1960–1969, data are for well
completion reports received by the American Petroleum Institute during the reporting year.  For 1970
forward, the data represent wells completed in a given year.  The as-received well completion data for
recent years are incomplete due to delays in the reporting of wells drilled.  The U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA) therefore statistically imputes the missing data.  ·  Totals may not equal sum of
components due to independent rounding.  Average depth may not equal average of components due to
independent rounding.
3See "Natural Gas Well" in Glossary. Web Pages:  ·  See http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/#crude for updated monthly and annual
data.  ·  See http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/ for related information.
4See "Dry Hole" in Glossary. Sources: ·  1949-1965—Gulf Publishing Company, World Oil, "Forecast-Review" issue.
·  1966-1969—American Petroleum Institute (API), Quarterly Review of Drilling Statistics for the United
States, annual summaries and monthly reports.  ·  1970-1989—EIA computations based on well reports
submitted to the API.  ·  1990 forward—EIA computations based on well reports submitted to IHS, Inc.,
Denver, CO.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)