Texas Drilling Permits and Completions Statistics for November 2020

December 03, 2020

AUSTIN – The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 382 original drilling permits in November 2020 compared to 958 in November 2019. The November 2020 total includes 321 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, three to re-enter plugged well bores, and 36 for re-completions of existing well bores.

The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in November 2020 is 102 oil, 36 gas, 226 oil or gas, nine injection, and nine other permits.

In November 2020, Commission staff processed 537 oil, 98 gas and 127 injection completions for new drills, re-entries and re-completions, compared to 711 oil, 117 gas, and 38 injection completions in November 2019.

Total well completions processed for 2020 year to date for new drills, re-entries and re-completions are 13,573 compared to 8,629 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  NOVEMBER 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

32

77

3

(2) REFUGIO AREA

39

34

11

(3) SOUTHEAST TEXAS

14

10

2

(4) DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

11

1

0

(5) EAST CENTRAL TX

2

3

0

(6) EAST TEXAS

10

3

11

(7B) WEST CENTRAL TX

8

8

0

(7C) SAN ANGELO AREA

47

40

0

(8) MIDLAND

139

323

51

(8A) LUBBOCK AREA

6

3

0

(9) NORTH TEXAS

9

3

2

(10) PANHANDLE

4

0

1

TOTAL

321

505

81

* 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/.