Texas Drilling Permits and Completions Statistics for September 2020

October 07, 2020

AUSTIN – The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 437 original drilling permits in September 2020 compared to 796 in September 2019. The September 2020 total includes 371 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, two to re-enter plugged well bores, and 41 for re-completions of existing well bores.

The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in September 2020 is 112 oil, 41 gas, 252 oil or gas, 11 injection, and 21 other permits.

In September 2020, Commission staff processed 902 oil, 147 gas and 119 injection completions for new drills, re-entries and re-completions, compared to 583 oil, 137 gas, and 27 injection completions in September 2019.

Total well completions processed for 2020 year to date for new drills, re-entries and re-completions are 11,917 compared to 7,074 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  SEPTEMBER 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

22

135

21

(2) REFUGIO AREA

49

73

20

(3) SOUTHEAST TEXAS

14

33

7

(4) DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

2

0

5

(5) EAST CENTRAL TX

0

2

0

(6) EAST TEXAS

29

5

10

(7B) WEST CENTRAL TX

16

7

0

(7C) SAN ANGELO AREA

27

69

0

(8) MIDLAND

190

498

48

(8A) LUBBOCK AREA

9

9

0

(9) NORTH TEXAS

12

2

0

(10) PANHANDLE

1

2

2

TOTAL

371

835

113

* 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/.