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Annual Energy Review

Release Date: October 19, 2011 
Next Update: August 2012

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
 R 12,839 R 11,246 R 8,245 R 32,330 74.5 R 56,611 R 57,075 R 42,538 R 156,224 R 4,409 R 5,075 R 5,159 R 4,832
1991
 R 12,588 R 9,793 R 7,481 R 29,862 74.9 R 56,259 R 51,081 R 37,857 R 145,197 R 4,469 R 5,216 R 5,060 R 4,862
1992
 R 9,402 R 8,163 R 5,862 R 23,427 75.0 R 45,817 R 44,813 R 29,477 R 120,107 R 4,873 R 5,490 R 5,028 R 5,127
1993
 R 8,856 R 9,839 R 6,096 R 24,791 75.4 R 44,324 R 58,384 R 31,117 R 133,825 R 5,005 R 5,934 R 5,104 R 5,398
1994
 R 7,348 R 9,375 R 5,096 R 21,819 76.6 R 38,675 R 58,439 R 27,828 R 124,942 R 5,263 R 6,233 R 5,461 R 5,726
1995
 R 8,248 R 8,082 R 4,814 R 21,144 77.2 R 41,146 R 49,840 R 26,397 R 117,383 R 4,989 R 6,167 5,483 R 5,552
1996
 R 8,836 R 9,027 4,890 R 22,753 78.5 R 42,517 R 56,250 R 27,884 R 126,651 R 4,812 R 6,231 R 5,702 R 5,566
1997
 R 11,206 R 11,498 5,874 R 28,578 79.4 R 56,451 R 71,551 R 33,741 R 161,743 R 5,038 R 6,223 R 5,744 R 5,660
1998
 R 7,682 R 11,639 R 4,761 R 24,082 80.2 R 38,683 R 70,375 R 28,585 R 137,643 R 5,036 R 6,046 R 6,004 R 5,716
1999
 R 4,805 R 12,027 R 3,550 R 20,382 R 82.6 R 22,025 R 60,382 R 20,659 R 103,066 R 4,584 R 5,021 R 5,819 R 5,057
2000
 R 8,090 R 17,051 R 4,146 R 29,287 85.8 R 36,798 R 83,697 R 24,101 R 144,596 R 4,549 R 4,909 R 5,813 R 4,937
2001
 R 8,888 R 22,072 R 4,598 R 35,558 87.1 R 43,213 R 110,787 R 26,279 R 180,279 R 4,862 R 5,019 R 5,715 R 5,070
2002
 R 6,775 R 17,342 R 3,754 R 27,871 R 86.5 R 30,981 R 93,174 R 21,221 R 145,376 R 4,573 R 5,373 R 5,653 R 5,216
2003
 R 8,129 R 20,722 R 3,982 R 32,833 87.9 R 38,690 R 116,140 R 22,762 R 177,592 R 4,760 R 5,605 R 5,716 R 5,409
2004
 R 8,789 R 24,186 R 4,082 R 37,057 89.0 R 42,290 R 138,774 R 23,761 R 204,825 R 4,812 R 5,738 R 5,821 R 5,527
2005
 R 10,779 R 28,584 R 4,653 R 44,016 89.4 R 51,681 R 164,184 R 25,070 R 240,935 R 4,795 R 5,744 R 5,388 R 5,474
2006E
 R 13,224 R 32,760 R 5,138 R 51,122 89.9 R 63,085 R 191,716 R 27,531 R 282,332 R 4,770 R 5,852 R 5,358 R 5,523
2007E
 R 13,341 R 32,852 R 4,940 R 51,133 R 90.3 R 65,305 R 210,318 R 27,632 R 303,255 R 4,895 R 6,402 R 5,594 R 5,931
2008E
 R 16,791 R 33,339 R 5,398 R 55,528 R 90.3 R 85,143 R 231,847 R 28,858 R 345,848 R 5,071 R 6,954 R 5,346 R 6,228
2009E
 R 11,610 R 19,054 R 3,748 R 34,412 R 89.1 R 61,851 R 147,505 R 20,015 R 229,371 R 5,327 R 7,741 R 5,340 R 6,665
2010E
 19,375 19,059 4,870 43,304 88.8 110,406 158,045 25,296 293,747 5,698 8,292 5,194 6,783
1See "Footage Drilled" in Glossary. R=Revised.  E=Estimate.  
2See "Crude Oil Well" in Glossary. Notes:  ·  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 Page:  For related information, see http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/.
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.  For current data see the EIA, Monthly Energy Review, Table 5.2.