Texas Drilling Permits and Completions Statistics
For December 2020
January 08, 2021AUSTIN – The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 486 original drilling permits in December 2020 compared to 803 in December 2019. The December 2020 total includes 424 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, four to re-enter plugged well bores, and 48 for re-completions of existing well bores.
The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in December 2020 is 118 oil, 43 gas, 296 oil or gas, 12 injection, and 17 other permits.
In December 2020, Commission staff processed 493 oil, 77 gas and 116 injection completions for new drills, re-entries and re-completions, compared to 491 oil, 98 gas, and 20 injection completions in December 2019.
Total well completions processed for 2020 year to date for new drills, re-entries and re-completions are 14,140 compared to 9,238 recorded during the same period in 2019.
Recent Information Technology changes are allowing the Commission to report more detailed data on drilling permits and well completions each month. The information in prior year reports may not correlate exactly to the same results on the new report. These technological improvements provide more statistics and transparency, and the new report is available on the Commission’s monthly drilling completion summaries web page
TABLE 1– DECEMBER 2020 TEXAS OIL AND GAS NEW DRILLING PERMITS AND COMPLETIONS BY RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS DISTRICT*
|
DISTRICT |
PERMITS TO DRILL NEW OIL/GAS HOLES |
NEW OIL COMPLETIONS |
NEW GAS COMPLETIONS |
|
(1) SAN ANTONIO AREA |
40 |
45 |
6 |
|
(2) REFUGIO AREA |
61 |
30 |
0 |
|
(3) SOUTHEAST TEXAS |
11 |
11 |
4 |
|
(4) DEEP SOUTH TEXAS |
9 |
0 |
1 |
|
(5) EAST CENTRAL TX |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
(6) EAST TEXAS |
5 |
0 |
14 |
|
(7B) WEST CENTRAL TX |
16 |
3 |
1 |
|
(7C) SAN ANGELO AREA |
31 |
49 |
0 |
|
(8) MIDLAND |
221 |
290 |
42 |
|
(8A) LUBBOCK AREA |
8 |
3 |
0 |
|
(9) NORTH TEXAS |
17 |
10 |
0 |
|
(10) PANHANDLE |
3 |
3 |
0 |
|
TOTAL |
424 |
444 |
68 |
* A district map is available on the Railroad Commission of Texas here.
About the Railroad Commission:
Our mission is to serve Texas by our stewardship of natural resources and the environment, our concern for personal and community safety, and our support of enhanced development and economic vitality for the benefit of Texans. The Commission has a long and proud history of service to both Texas and to the nation, including more than 100 years regulating the oil and gas industry. The Commission also has jurisdiction over alternative fuels safety, natural gas utilities, surface mining and intrastate pipelines. Established in 1891, the Railroad Commission of Texas is the oldest regulatory agency in the state. To learn more, please visit https://www.rrc.texas.gov/about-us/.