Cathy Landry | 202.682.8114 | landryc@api.org
WASHINGTON, October 26, 2010 – After slumping in 2009, U.S. oil and natural gas drilling is on the upswing in 2010. An estimated 11,297 oil wells, natural gas wells and dry holes were completed in the third quarter of 2010, a 45 percent jump from last year’s third quarter, according to API’s newly released 2010 Quarterly Well Completion Report: Third Quarter.
“Third-quarter exploratory well completions climbed 31 percent compared with 2009’s third quarter, with natural gas exploratory wells up a whopping 68 percent,” noted Hazem Arafa, director of API’s statistics department. “I think this really demonstrates the oil and natural gas industry’s continued commitment to finding new energy sources to meet growing U.S. and world demand, as well as the importance of new supply areas, many of which were only opened recently thanks to the industry’s ability to apply innovative techniques to existing technologies.”
API estimates showed a resurgence in oil well completion activity in the third quarter, with completions rising to an estimated 5,451 oil wells, a 60 percent jump from year-ago levels. For most of this decade, natural gas had been the primary target for domestic drilling. But with the continued growth of oil well completions and a drop in natural gas completion activity this year amid historically low prices, this is no longer the case. An estimated 4,434 natural gas wells were completed in the third quarter of 2010, a 28 percent increase from 2009’s third quarter. For the first three quarters of the year, estimated natural gas well completions dipped 3 percent from a year ago to 12,677, while oil well completions rose 21 percent to an estimated 13,865.
API also reported total estimated footage of 69,156,000 feet drilled in the third quarter of 2010, a 43 percent increase from third quarter 2009. Oil well footage surged 81 percent for the quarter, to 32,815,000, while natural gas footage gained 17 percent to 29,255,000.
API’s Quarterly Well Completion Report is available for an annual subscription from API, Telephone (202) 682-8499. Fax: (202) 962-4730. The report also is available from Jeff Obermiller at (202) 682-8508 or through API’s Internet-based on-line service, API DATA. For more information, contact API DATA at (202) 682-8511.
API represents more than 400 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America’s energy, supports more than 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.5 percent of the U.S. economy, and, since 2000, has invested nearly $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.
Updated: October 26, 2010