Texas Drilling Permits and Completions Statistics

for June 2020

July 06, 2020

AUSTIN – The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 312 original drilling permits in June 2020 compared to 1,001 in June 2019. The June 2020 total includes 262 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, three to re-enter plugged well bores and 21 for re-completions of existing well bores.

The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in June 2020 is 72 oil, 24 gas, 187 oil or gas, 24 injection, and five other permits.

In June 2020, Commission staff processed 1,031 oil, 371 gas and 60 injection completions for new drills, re-entries and re-completions, compared to 632 oil, 182 gas, and 63 injection completions in June 2019.

Total well completions processed for 2020 year to date for new drills, re-entries and re-completions are 7,930 compared to 5,050 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 – JUNE 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

13

84

42

(2) REFUGIO AREA

15

153

73

(3) SOUTHEAST TEXAS

5

28

14

(4) DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

8

1

17

(5) EAST CENTRAL TX

0

5

1

(6) EAST TEXAS

18

7

29

(7B) WEST CENTRAL TX

8

12

1

(7C) SAN ANGELO AREA

23

84

1

(8) MIDLAND

157

538

147

(8A) LUBBOCK AREA

0

39

0

(9) NORTH TEXAS

15

8

8

(10) PANHANDLE

0

4

7

TOTAL

262

963

340

*A district map is available on the Railroad Commission of Texas website 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 almost 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/.