Strong E&P growth continues – Statistical Data Included
The surge in drilling activity that finally got underway last year looks to grow even more in 2001, quite possibly reaching levels not seen since the late ’80s, in terms of wells drilled. Extraordinarily strong prices for crude oil and natural gas have repaired operators’ balance sheets and sent them searching for ways to invest in new reserves. These same high prices probably will hinder reserve growth through acquisition, thus placing increasing emphasis on drilling. Consequently, it appears that the only limitations to even greater growth will be availability of personnel, equipment or viable prospects.
Although some may wish that those remarkable oil and gas prices would last indefinitely, reality doesn’t include $9 gas for long, and oil is still subject to OPEC’s whims and missteps. But with the fundamentals of a tight market firmly in place, there is little doubt that the E&P sector will continue to see healthy expansion. Highlights of World Oil’s forecast for 2001 include:
* The drilling of 34,772 wells in the U.S., an increase of 20%
* U.S. Gulf of Mexico drilling will improve 14% to 1,162 wells
* A 22% increase in Texas drilling to 8,199 wells
* An average 1,120 rigs running in the U.S. during 2001, up 22%.
Oil and gas prices. Operators’ belief that improved market fundamentals were real, strengthened continuously throughout 2000. In addition, OPEC’S frequent machinations to fine-tune the market also helped oil prices reach, then hold, at levels not seen since 1990. On paper, there are still many questions surrounding OPEC quota discipline, and when and if Iraq will resume, or even raise production. However, the fact remains that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are the only OPEC members whose quota changes actually affect the market. With their current hawkish thinking, plus increasing world demand for oil this year, the Houston-based consulting firm of Groppe, Long and Littell sees the spot price of WTI in the U.S. averaging around $30 per barrel during 2001.
Wellhead prices for natural gas skyrocketed late last year, peaking in the $10 per Mcf range as panicked buyers responded to record cold across North America and power shortages on the West Coast. However, those natural gas prices, which on a Btu basis, correspond to fuel oil prices approaching $50 per bbl, simply aren’t sustainable. Thus, Groppe, et al., expects wellhead gas prices to average $4.60 per Mcf this year.
Operator surveys. World Oil’s yearend survey of 17 U.S. major drillers (integrated companies and independents with large drilling programs) and 148 independents indicates strong expectations for 2001. Majors plan 4,115 wells, up 19% from last year. Independents responding will drill 1,784 wells, up a resounding 39%. The majors’ exploration plans are slightly stronger this year, with nearly 6% of their wells targeting wildcat prospects, compared to 5% in 2000. Exploration by independents will remain very strong at about 33% of total drilling.
Both groups will still emphasize gas–majors expect that 37% of their drilling will be for gas, while 50% of independents’ drilling will target gas. According to Baker Hughes, about 80% of the rigs they count are targeting natural gas, which may cause one to question the gas-to-total drilling ratios cited above. However, it should be noted that Baker Hughes does not count the hundreds of shallow-depth capacity rigs, most of which are used to drill thousands of shallow oil wells throughout the country every year.
Spending plans. Salomon Smith Barney’s annual year-end survey of 234 U.S. and international operators indicates that worldwide E&P budgets will rise 19.7% this year. Spending plans are based on an average oil price assumption by the respondents of $25.34 per bbl, which is up sharply from the $19.08 price assumed at this time last year.
For the U.S., the Salomon survey indicates total E&P spending of $29.7 billion this year, an increase of 19.3%. Independents are more bullish, with expenditures expected to grow by 20.4%, but the majors aren’t far behind with their 17.9% increase.
Area forecasts. The following summaries represent important states or regions that greatly influenced the 2000 forecast.
Activity in the Gulf of Mexico should rise about 14% to 1,162 wells in 2001, an activity level limited only by equipment availability. Although some producers claim that high costs for rigs and other services, brought about by their limited supply, could dampen spending plans for 2001, Robert E. Rose, president and CEO of Houston-based drilling contractor Global Marine, disagrees. Rose says, “Higher rig rates might hurt the marginal prospects, but not the good prospects. There’s no question that rigs and capital migrate to the prospects that are the best. Companies with the best prospects put the most money into them and attract the rigs.” Rose also noted that it is the drilling contractors that push down rig rates while trying to underbid each other when jobs are few. But in the up cycles, producers bid up rig rates to assure themselves access to a unit for drilling their prospects.
Texas, likely the state hardest hit by the 1999 oil price bust, is making an amazing recovery. This year should see drilling increase a healthy 22.1%, to 8,199 wells. If achieved, the 2001 well total will represent a 70.6% improvement from 1999, but it will still be almost 8% below 1998’s level.
The three Texas Railroad Commission districts that encompass the oil-prone West Texas region are all indicated to enjoy above normal activity improvements. District 8, which once was the largest in terms of wells drilled, will remain number two for another year, but will see drilling climb 32% to above a thousand wells again in 2001. A little further north, District 8A should record a 15.5% gain in drilling. District 7C also will be a big growth area, as 973 wells are expected, for an increase of 31.5%.
District 4 in extreme South Texas should hang onto its title of number one in drilling, mostly because of its natural gas targets. A 14.8% rise in activity there should produce 1,127 wells this year.
Continuing gas development, particularly in the southern half, will send Lousiana’s well count rising 14.2% to 1,523 wells. High oil prices are also having an effect in the northern half of the state, where activity is expected to jump 16.5% to 905 wells. Exploration work will get a boost over last year, as opera-
tars tell World Oil that 37% of planned drilling will be exploratory, compared to only 21% last year.
California’s mostly shallow-depth, heavy oil fields are highly susceptible to oil price fluctuations and thus, took a beating during 1999. However, as demonstrated by the dramatic turnaround during 2000, these same attributes allow the state’s operators to react very quickly. This year, the state’s energy problems are expected to impact drilling. Consequently, only a 3.5% rise in drilling is expected.
Coalbed methane development programs will again be a major portion of Rocky Mountain drilling this year. Collectively, Rocky Mountain wells should climb from 6,659 in 2000 to 7,334 in 2001. Wyoming is home to most of it, and thus, will see drilling rise 7.2% to 5900 wells in 2001. If coalbed wells are excluded, then Wyoming drilling will rise from 1,000 wells in 2000 to 1,400 wells this year. More than half of Colorado’s wells target coalbeds, and with natural gas selling at record prices, coalbed development will cause drilling in the state to soar 38.5% to 900 wells this year.
In the Mid-Continent area, Oklahoma will experience a 38.1% rise in activity to 3,050 wells. Gas development is still high priority, especially among the majors, and with high, relatively stable oil prices; Oklahoma should exceed 3,000 wells this year. Kansas is predicted to have a good year too, as drilling jumps 11.8% to 1,300 wells. The state is heavily gas-oriented with its giant Hugoton field and operators are taking advantage of higher gas prices.
ABOUT THESE STATISTICS
World Oil’s tables are produced using the aid of data from a variety of sources, including the American Petroleum Institute, ODS-Petrodata Group, the Texas Railroad Commission and most other state regulatory agencies. In addition, 165 operating companies with drilling programs responded to this year’s survey. Please note credits and explanations in table footnotes.
World Oil editors try to be as objective as possible in this estimating process to present what they believe is the most current data available. It is realized that sound forecasting can only be as reliable as the base data. In this respect, it should be noted that well counting is a dynamic process and most historical data will be continually updated over a period of several years before the “books are closed” on any given year.
U.S. drilling 1859-1999
Oil Gas Dry
Year(s) Wells Footage [*] Wells Footage [*] Wells
1859-1870 7,486 N.A. — — 3,175
1871-1880 20,943 N.A. — — 3,618
1881-1890 33,621 N.A. 317 N.A. 5,811
1891-1900 78,857 N.A. 157 N.A. 19,405
1901-1910 136,846 N.A. 5,524 N.A. 34,480
1911-1921 165,928 N.A. 20,937 N.A. 44,512
1922-1925 80,423 N.A. 10,855 N.A. 28,865
1926-1930 73,404 N.A. 13,828 N.A. 36,468
1931-1935 54,054 N.A. 7,634 N.A. 20,652
1936-1940 98,502 N.A. 11,545 N.A. 32,872
1941 19,590 N.A. 3,279 N.A. 7,280
1942 10,977 N.A. 2,790 N.A. 5,962
1943 9,887 31,403,856 2,390 6,722,529 6,364
1944 13,502 47,013,685 3,078 8,808,681 7,153
1945 13,944 51,326,513 3,192 10,567,612 7,346
1946 16,087 56,622,477 3,562 12,235,594 8,496
1947 17,613 62,567,638 3,720 13,248,959 9,751
1948 22,197 78,461,094 3,312 12,500,367 11,939
1949 21,415 79,462,544 3,499 12,860,524 12,898
1950 23,775 92,445,871 3,480 14,002,468 14,918
1951 23,532 95,474,565 3,542 14,508,384 17,497
1952 23,371 98,263,046 3,693 16,070,060 18,211
1953 25,251 102,055,495 4,232 19,473,259 18,759
1954 28,063 113,392,112 4,219 19,886,630 19,137
1955 30,474 122,087,959 4,169 19,588,923 20,564
1956 30,641 120,429,185 4,495 22,592,694 22,254
1957 27,519 110,548,436 4,622 24,225,753 20,250
1958 24,311 93,548,518 5,029 25,385,401 18,421
1959 25,532 97,188,133 4,870 26,538,041 18,669
1960 22,258 86,568,388 5,149 28,246,169 18,212
1961 21,437 85,625,677 5,486 29,291,780 17,331
1962 21,727 88,431,757 5,353 28,949,750 17,078
1963 20,135 81,809,432 4,570 24,532,890 16,762
1964 19,905 80,463,338 4,694 25,597,346 17,694
1965 18,065 73,322,134 4,482 24,930,859 16,226
1966 16,216 67,430,165 4,321 25,635,979 15,193
1967 15,073 59,800,120 3,602 21,481,984 12,958
1968 13,982 59,330,239 3,329 20,151,701 12,954
1969 13,213 59,980,115 3,656 21,828,810 13,076
1970 13,043 56,830,743 4,031 23,616,865 11,099
1971 11,903 49,057,720 3,983 23,419,852 10,382
1972 11,437 49,483,964 5,484 30,256,715 11,013
1973 10,251 44,759,192 6,975 38,211,608 10,466
1974 13,664 52,070,312 7,168 38,481,537 12,205
1975 16,979 66,925,867 8,169 44,480,714 13,736
1976 17,697 68,827,696 9,438 49,197,689 13,805
1977 18,700 75,191,080 12,119 63,499,875 15,036
1978 19,065 76,621,339 14,405 75,589,964 16,591
1979 20,689 82,142,574 15,166 79,874,886 16,035
1980 32,219 123,453,930 17,185 90,554,744 20,309
1981 42,819 169,345,774 19,887 106,396,975 27,246
1982 40,182 152,851,601 17,167 99,160,005 25,844
1983 38,286 140,912,314 12,727 69,898,233 23,764
1984 43,824 166,630,406 14,818 81,222,074 25,130
1985 35,882 140,858,269 12,600 69,529,518 20,946
1986 18,196 73,521,031 7,815 42,073,772 12,075
1987 15,759 64,395,803 7,603 40,360,972 10,963
1988 13,240 56,934,139 8,227 43,652,835 9,965
1989 10,189 42,862,761 8,973 46,480,038 8,212
1990 12,014 53,696,362 10,242 52,716,377 8,359
1991 11,733 54,259,040 9,020 47,652,347 7,664
1992 8,821 44,829,333 7,854 44,083,501 6,394
1993 8,672 47,122,491 9,581 57,919,225 6,615
1994 7,099 40,891,170 9,032 58,291,949 5,318
1995 7,824 40,692,060 7,777 49,986,150 4,933
1996 8,917 41,053,246 9,259 56,526,025 5,329
1997 11,214 53,225,444 11,168 68,415,752 5,767
1998 7,759 37,808,800 12,203 68,218,164 4,898
1999 4,624 22,706,944 9,621 54,190,502 3,362
Service and
others [1] Total
Year(s) Footage [*] Wells Footage [*] Wells
1859-1870 N.A. — — 10,661
1871-1880 N.A. — — 24,561
1881-1890 N.A. — — 39,749
1891-1900 N.A. — — 98,419
1901-1910 N.A. — — 176,850
1911-1921 N.A. — — 231,377
1922-1925 N.A. — — 120,143
1926-1930 N.A. 8,684 N.A. 132,384
1931-1935 N.A. 5,681 N.A. 88,021
1936-1940 N.A. 9,544 N.A. 152,463
1941 N.A. 2,361 N.A. 32,510
1942 N.A. 2,261 N.A. 21,990
1943 21,196,372 1,708 2,669,100 20,349
1944 25,293,694 2,053 3,262,397 25,786
1945 27,633,205 2,167 3,424,783 26,649
1946 29,021,562 2,085 3,245,180 30,230
1947 33,898,943 2,063 3,100,584 33,147
1948 42,521,976 2,029 3,225,716 39,477
1949 44,408,405 1,150 1,885,468 38,962
1950 51,362,163 1,134 1,951,230 43,307
1951 64,299,301 1,425 2,474,971 45,996
1952 71,943,349 1,234 2,116,240 46,509
1953 74,850,087 1,238 2,102,762 49,480
1954 76,595,700 778 1,421,716 52,197
1955 85,576,146 672 1,276,660 55,879
1956 90,440,348 1,028 1,924,214 58,418
1957 83,383,826 1,392 2,705,561 53,783
1958 74,983,087 1,340 2,590,182 49,101
1959 79,744,166 1,108 2,728,825 50,179
1960 77,360,794 1,212 2,467,966 46,831
1961 74,715,968 1,390 2,817,675 45,644
1962 77,252,512 1,839 3,584,557 45,997
1963 76,306,764 1,659 3,314,248 43,126
1964 81,359,311 1,856 3,547,250 44,149
1965 76,629,066 1,601 3,370,819 40,374
1966 72,353,461 1,153 2,673,531 36,883
1967 63,440,482 840 2,257,531 32,473
1968 68,239,219 674 2,291,260 30,939
1969 70,097,967 870 2,391,478 30,815
1970 58,111,919 1,369 3,406,966 29,542
1971 54,778,380 1,414 3,411,173 27,682
1972 59,055,883 1,486 3,713,052 29,420
1973 56,453,938 970 2,449,638 28,662
1974 63,224,550 1,378 2,873,471 34,415
1975 69,633,412 1,920 3,846,248 40,804
1976 69,264,201 1,674 3,574,970 42,614
1977 77,004,923 1,453 3,878,447 47,308
1978 86,174,945 1,610 4,127,271 51,671
1979 81,667,970 1,472 3,665,320 53,362
1980 97,997,528 2,082 4,943,101 71,795
1981 132,779,054 2,381 5,851,487 92,333
1982 122,108,105 2,233 5,281,402 85,426
1983 103,577,767 2,034 4,775,147 76,811
1984 118,459,103 2,228 5,798,103 86,000
1985 102,215,818 1,680 5,204,095 71,108
1986 59,265,274 723 2,367,486 38,809
1987 53,783,526 870 2,638,528 35,195
1988 51,974,308 948 2,935,733 32,380
1989 41,984,308 672 2,220,889 28,046
1990 43,106,274 834 2,246,372 31,449
1991 39,480,310 1,182 2,936,524 29,599
1992 32,420,449 996 2,329,997 24,065
1993 34,308,901 763 2,836,143 25,631
1994 29,641,504 671 1,840,077 22,120
1995 27,248,400 786 2,265,704 21,320
1996 29,422,393 886 2,401,849 24,391
1997 31,962,808 1,056 2,648,417 29,205
1998 29,108,453 881 2,732,480 24,741
1999 20,334,535 432 1,271,941 18,039
Year(s) Footage [*]
1859-1870 N.A.
1871-1880 N.A.
1881-1890 N.A.
1891-1900 N.A.
1901-1910 N.A.
1911-1921 N.A.
1922-1925 N.A.
1926-1930 N.A.
1931-1935 N.A.
1936-1940 458,386,862
1941 99,347,714
1942 67,903,053
1943 61,991,857
1944 84,378,457
1945 92,982,113
1946 101,124,813
1947 112,816,124
1948 136,709,153
1949 138,616,941
1950 159,761,732
1951 176,757,221
1952 188,392,695
1953 198,431,603
1954 211,296,158
1955 227,529,688
1956 235,386,441
1957 220,863,576
1958 196,507,188
1959 206,199,165
1960 194,643,317
1961 192,451,100
1962 198,218,576
1963 185,963,334
1964 190,967,245
1965 178,252,878
1966 168,093,136
1967 146,980,117
1968 150,012,419
1969 154,298,370
1970 141,966,493
1971 130,667,125
1972 142,509,614
1973 141,874,376
1974 156,649,870
1975 184,886,241
1976 190,864,556
1977 219,574,325
1978 242,513,519
1979 247,350,750
1980 316,949,303
1981 414,373,290
1982 379,401,133
1983 319,163,461
1984 372,109,686
1985 317,807,700
1986 177,227,563
1987 161,178,829
1988 155,497,015
1989 133,547,996
1990 151,765,385
1991 144,328,221
1992 123,663,280
1993 142,186,760
1994 130,664,700
1995 120,189,314
1996 129,403,513
1997 156,252,421
1998 137,867,897
1999 98,503,922
(1.)Includes stratigraphic and core tests.
(*.)Total records not available prior to 1943.
Source: Prior to 1970–Petroleum Information Corp., World Oil, Bureau of Mines, “Petroleum In the United States and Possessions,” by Arnold and Kemnitzer, and other authoritative sources. After 1970–API. Note: API figures will continue to be revised as wells, previously not counted, are finally reported.
What 148 U.S. independent drillers plan for 2001 [1]
Area Wells to be drilled Wells drilled
or 2001 2000
district Total Wildcat Field Total Wildcat Field
Alabama [2] 70 16 54 32 0 32
Arkansas 1 0 1 0 0 0
California
Onshore 57 25 32 65 28 37
Colorado 28 7 21 27 9 18
Gulf of Mexico 104 83 21 100 70 30
Louisiana 82 69 13 77 58 19
Texas 22 14 8 23 12 11
Illinois 26 8 18 17 4 13
Indiana 8 4 4 6 3 3
Kansas 215 80 135 150 70 80
Kentucky 3 1 2 1 0 1
Louisiana [2] 115 55 60 56 27 29
North 27 5 22 15 5 10
South 88 50 38 41 22 19
Michigan 48 16 32 28 12 16
Mississippi [2] 19 9 10 11 7 4
Montana 67 7 60 76 0 76
New Mexico 143 27 116 105 14 91
South/East 90 24 66 70 12 58
North/West 53 3 50 35 2 33
New York 11 1 10 2 0 2
North Dakota 29 11 18 18 8 10
Ohio 73 31 42 51 24 27
Oklahoma 157 49 108 97 38 59
Texas [2] 490 114 376 386 95 291
District 1 32 5 27 12 2 10
District 2 19 1 18 13 2 11
Oistrict 3 39 25 14 24 15 9
District 4 107 13 94 105 15 90
District 5 9 4 5 7 3 4
District 6 39 2 37 30 0 30
District 7B 25 12 13 20 6 14
District 7C 61 11 50 53 15 38
District 8 92 18 74 69 17 52
District 8A 27 5 22 23 2 21
District 9 14 10 4 12 12 0
District 10 26 8 18 18 6 12
Utah 14 10 4 0 0 0
West Virginia 60 10 50 32 0 32
Wyoming 42 20 22 23 6 17
Others 4 3 1 2 1 1
Total U.S. 1,784 587 1,197 1,285 416 869
Area Supplemental well data [3]
or Horizontal Gas
district 2001 2000 2001 2000
Alabama [2] 8 2 45 43
Arkansas 0 0 0 0
California
Onshore 9 8 25 21
Colorado 1 0 12 7
Gulf of Mexico 1 6 34 32
Louisiana 0 1 25 31
Texas 0 6 3 7
Illinois 1 0 0 0
Indiana 0 0 0 0
Kansas 5 3 94 64
Kentucky 0 0 0 0
Louisiana [2] 5 1 44 27
North 0 0 15 8
South 5 1 29 19
Michigan 0 2 40 24
Mississippi [2] 1 1 13 9
Montana 0 0 64 76
New Mexico 4 0 62 48
South/East 3 0 14 14
North/West 1 0 48 34
New York 0 1 11 0
North Dakota 16 11 0 0
Ohio 0 0 61 49
Oklahoma 2 0 124 79
Texas [2] 13 6 213 151
District 1 2 1 25 10
District 2 5 3 16 11
Oistrict 3 0 0 8 7
District 4 0 0 89 78
District 5 0 0 6 4
District 6 0 0 26 16
Oistrict 7B 0 0 0 0
District 7C 0 0 20 7
Oistrict 8 5 2 3 6
District 8A 1 0 0 0
District 9 0 0 1 3
District 10 0 0 17 11
Utah 2 0 8 0
West Virginia 0 0 30 3
Wyoming 10 5 18 14
Others 0 1 0 0
Total U.S. 78 47 898 647
(1.)Companies represent a cross-section of U.S. Independent operators.
(2.)Excludes state and federal offshore wells, which are
included in the GOM total.
(3.)Supplemental well data is included in field and wildcat categories.
What 17 U.S. major drillers plan for 2001 [1]
Area Wells to be drilled Wells drilled
or 2001 2000
district Total Wildcat Field Total Wildcat Field
California
Onshore 1,852 27 1,825 1,774 8 1,766
Colorado 77 7 70 78 8 70
Gulf of Mexico 274 81 193 234 45 189
Alabama 10 2 8 7 1 6
Louisiana 203 58 145 164 32 132
Texas 61 21 40 63 12 51
Kansas 76 3 73 71 5 66
Louisiana [2] 144 40 104 102 13 89
North 90 7 83 85 8 77
South 54 33 21 17 5 12
Michigan 53 0 53 50 0 50
Montana 12 9 3 5 2 3
New Mexico 208 8 200 168 17 151
South/East 78 8 70 55 7 48
North/West 130 0 130 113 10 103
New York 17 7 10 4 2 2
North Dakota 29 5 24 24 8 16
Ohio 57 13 44 33 10 23
Oklahoma 254 11 243 143 10 133
Pennsylvania 10 2 8 3 1 2
Texas [2] 685 48 637 489 44 445
District 1 2 1 1 7 0 7
District 2 25 4 21 17 2 15
District 3 49 22 27 44 21 23
District 4 229 6 223 209 9 200
District 5 29 4 25 1 0 1
District 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
District 7B 0 0 0 0 0 0
District 7C 117 6 111 99 5 94
District 8 144 2 142 52 2 50
District 8A 8 0 8 7 0 7
District 9 5 2 3 6 4 2
District l0 77 1 76 47 1 46
Utah 78 1 77 94 0 94
Virginia 0 0 0 2 0 2
West Virginia 201 0 201 115 0 115
Wyoming 88 1 87 70 4 66
Total U.S. 4,115 263 3,852 3,459 177 3,282
Area Supplemental well data [3]
or Horizontal Gas
district 2001 2000 2001 2000
California
Onshore 61 54 22 7
Colorado 0 0 76 71
Gulf of Mexico 0 0 192 181
Alabama 0 0 3 4
Louisiana 0 0 138 117
Texas 0 0 51 60
Kansas 0 0 79 53
Louisiana [2] 6 2 133 94
North 5 2 90 85
South 1 0 43 9
Michigan 0 1 51 49
Montana 0 3 0 0
New Mexico 0 0 58 56
South/East 0 0 13 2
North/West 0 0 45 54
New York 1 2 17 2
North Dakota 28 19 0 0
Ohio 0 0 35 26
Oklahoma 2 0 187 105
Pennsylvania 12 1 0 1
Texas [2] 72 99 466 313
District 1 0 2 0 0
District 2 7 0 25 17
District 3 9 55 43 34
District 4 0 0 225 207
District 5 0 0 29 0
District 6 0 0 0 0
District 7B 0 0 0 0
District 7C 0 0 56 4
District 8 5 5 11 4
District 8A 0 0 0 0
District 9 0 0 0 1
District l0 51 37 77 46
Utah 0 0 74 93
Virginia 0 0 0 0
West Virginia 0 0 80 74
Wyoming 0 6 51 45
Total U.S. 182 187 1,521 1,170
(1.)Major drillers are defined as Integrated
oil companies or subsidiaries and large
independents that plan to implement
significant drilling programs in several
states during 2001.
(2.)Excludes state and federal offshore
wells, which are included in the GOM total.
(3.)Supplemental well data is included in
field and wildcat categories.
Forecast of U.S. wells and footage
to be drilled in 2001
Total footage
Total wells (1,000 ft)
2001 2000 % 2001
State or district Forecast Estimate [4] Difference Forecast
Alabama [1] 312 293 6.5 991
Alaska 165 132 25.0 1,386
Alaska-offshore [2] 7 3 133.3 57
Arkansas 207 167 24.0 1,231
California 2,690 2,600 3.5 7,061
California-offshore [2] 54 42 28.6 318
Colorado 900 650 38.5 3,614
Gulf of Mexico [2] 1,162 1,019 14.0 11,213
Illinois 273 236 15.7 708
Indiana 120 98 22.4 205
Kansas 1,300 1,163 11.8 4,791
Kentucky 815 630 29.4 2,127
Louisiana [1] 1,523 1,334 14.2 11,779
North 905 777 16.5 5,475
South 618 557 11.0 6,304
Michigan 415 400 3.8 872
Mississippi [1] 180 137 31.4 1,640
Montana 534 507 5.3 1,841
Nebraska 55 45 22.2 267
New Mexico 1,962 1,803 8.8 12,047
New York 136 101 34.7 403
North Dakota 160 139 15.1 1,452
Ohio 673 528 27.5 2,961
Oklahoma 3,050 2,208 38.1 19,343
Pennsylvania 1,980 1,864 6.2 7,653
South Dakota 16 8 100.0 107
Tennessee 132 123 7.3 249
Texas [1] 8,199 6,717 22.1 57,100
District 1 256 215 19.1 1,715
District 2 567 471 20.4 3,929
District 3 706 559 26.3 5,969
District 4 1,127 982 14.8 10,391
District 5 437 323 35.3 4,130
District 6 653 588 11.1 5,665
District 7B 564 497 13.5 2,141
District 7C 973 740 31.5 6,227
District 8 1,108 839 32.1 7,479
District 8A 537 465 15.5 3,018
District 9 829 690 20.1 3,784
District 10 442 348 27.0 2,652
Utah 434 443 -2.0 2,202
Virginia 350 340 2.9 910
West Virginia 1,017 714 42.4 4,332
Wyoming 5,900 5,502 7.2 17,995
Others [3] 51 48 6.3 238
Total U.S. 34,772 29,994 15.9 177,093
2000 %
State or district Estimate [4] Difference
Alabama [1] 928 6.8
Alaska 1,069 29.7
Alaska-offshore [2] 24 137.5
Arkansas 1,030 19.5
California 6,500 8.6
California-offshore [2] 243 30.9
Colorado 2,724 32.7
Gulf of Mexico [2] 9,395 19.4
Illinois 606 16.8
Indiana 184 11.4
Kansas 4,309 11.2
Kentucky 1,619 31.4
Louisiana [1] 10,359 13.7
North 4,744 15.4
South 5,615 12.3
Michigan 764 14.1
Mississippi [1] 1,226 33.8
Montana 1,830 0.6
Nebraska 222 20.3
New Mexico 11,197 7.6
New York 284 41.9
North Dakota 1,286 12.9
Ohio 2,334 26.9
Oklahoma 14,242 35.8
Pennsylvania 6,804 12.5
South Dakota 53 101.9
Tennessee 229 8.7
Texas [1] 45,383 25.8
District 1 1,423 20.5
District 2 3,280 19.8
District 3 4,612 29.4
District 4 8,691 19.6
District 5 2,897 42.6
District 6 5,051 12.2
District 7B 1,854 15.5
District 7C 4,625 34.6
District 8 5,424 37.9
District 8A 2,462 22.6
District 9 3,019 25.3
District 10 2,045 29.7
Utah 2,259 -2.5
Virginia 887 2.6
West Virginia 2,926 48.1
Wyoming 16,534 8.8
Others [3] 220 8.2
Total U.S. 147,670 19.9
(1.)Excludes state and federal offshore wells, which are included in the GOM total.
(2.)Includes state and federal offshore wells.
(3.)Includes Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada and Oregon.
(4.)2000 estimates are based on well counts furnished by state and federal regulatory agencies, API and ODS-Petrodata Group for the Gulf of Mexico.
Operators active in the Gulf of Mexico,
and wells drilled, during 2000
Company Wells
AEDC 2
Agip Petroleum 1
Amerada Hess 14
Anadarko 9
Apache 24
ATP Oil & Gas 1
Aviara Energy Corp. 1
Barrett Resources 1
Basin Exploration 19
Bellwether Exploration 1
BHP Petroleum 4
Bois D’Arc 10
BP 19
BP Amoco 13
British-Borneo O&G 2
British-Borneo USA 2
Burlington Resources 8
Callon Offshore 5
Calpine Natural Gas 1
Century Exploration 3
Century Offshore 3
Challenger Minerals 14
Chenlere Energy Inc. 1
Chevron East Shelf 67
Chevron Western 36
Chieftain International 7
CNG Producing 1
Coastal Oil & Gas 38
Cockrell Oil 8
Conn Energy Inc. 2
Conoco 5
CXY Energy 7
Davis Petroleum 1
Devon Energy Corp. 39
Dominion E&P 9
EEX Corp. 3
El Paso Production 17
Elf Exploration 7
Energy Partners Ltd. 13
Energy Resource 2
EOG Resources 1
Equitable Production 7
ExxonMobil 33
Forcenercy 13
Forest Oil 6
Hall-Houston Oil 14
Houston Exploration 14
IP Petroleum 11
J M Huber Corp. 3
Juniper Energy LP 1
Kerr McGee 11
Linder Oil 4
LLOG Exploration 51
Louis Dreyfus 1
Magnum Hunter 2
Marathon 4
Mariner Energy Inc. 4
Matrix O&G 4
McMoran O&G LLC 6
Murphy E&P 4
Newfield Exploration 31
Nexen Petroleum 1
Nippon Oil 4
North Central Oil 5
Ocean Energy 1
Ocean Energy Inc. 20
Panaco Inc. 5
Petroquest Energy 3
Phillips 3
Pioneer Natural 2
Pogo Producing 7
Ranger Oil 1
Remington Oil & Gas 7
Ridgelake Energy 3
Samedan 33
Santa Fe Snyder 3
Seneca Resources 9
Shell E&P 27
Shell Offshore 7
Spinnaker 18
Spirit Energy 76 47
Statoil Exploration 1
Stone Energy 11
Taylor 9
TDC Energy 2
Texaco 17
Torch Operating 12
Transworld E&P 5
Union Pacific Resources 10
Vastar Resources 55
Vintage Petroleum 2
W&T Offshore 3
Walter Oil & Gas 17
Westport Oil 13
Westport Resources 3
Whiting Petroleum 1
William G Helis 7
Total 1,019
Source: ODS – Petrodata Group
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gulf Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
