How Big is the Gas Drilling Regulatory Staff in Your State?
ProPublica has collected data from oil and gas producing states for a nine-year period starting in 2003, compiling numbers on new wells, enforcement staffing, enforcement actions and more. In most states, regulatory agencies that oversee oil and gas drilling are also responsible for overseeing underground injection wells for drilling waste, known as Class 2 wells.
National Data
Below are the total number of new wells drilled per year and the enforcement staff and budget numbers from 2003 to 2011 for the 22 states that supplied the most complete data. Since 2003, the number of new wells drilled in these states increased 28 percent, while enforcement staff grew only 15 percent. See limitations.
Wells Drilled: Change Since 2003
Wells Drilled
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30.9K | 37.8K | 41.9K | 48.8K | 50K | 53.6K | 45.4K | 38.7K | 39.1K |
Oil And Gas Enforcement Staff: Change Since 2003
Oil And Gas Enforcement Staff
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
826 | 822 | 830 | 866 | 865 | 919 | 937 | 897 | 928 |
Oil And Gas Department Budget: Change Since 2003
Oil And Gas Department Budget
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$176M | $197M | $209M | $314M | $339M | $364M | $352M | $252M | $261M |
The graphs on the left show the rate of growth compared to the earliest year for which we have data -- in most cases 2003. The gray lines represent a theoretical constant annual rate of change. The bar charts on the right show the actual values for each year we have data.
Limitations
Each state tracks oversight of oil and gas wells differently. In some states, the numbers for enforcement staff represent staff members whose jobs revolve around enforcement, including field inspectors, supervisors and attorneys who handle enforcement cases. In other states, such as New York, enforcement staff is more broadly defined because all of the agency's employees are involved in enforcement to some degree. In some states, such as Nebraska, enforcement actions are not tracked consistently, so officials would not release data. The total well count provided by each state also varied. Some states provided producing oil and gas wells while others included injection, disposal and shut-in wells in their reported figures. Each state page lists how that state reports its data.