OUTLOOK 2007: PRODUCING OIL WELLS

US producing oil wells up slightly

The number of US producing oil wells grew slightly by 0.5% in 2006 to 500,785 wells from its 498,454 total well count for 2005, as reported by state agencies and estimated by World Oil. This is the first gain in oil producers since 1991's well count of 610,204.

The US gained 2,331 net wells in the past year. Significant gains occurred in four states: Pennsylvania, California, Texas and Colorado. Modest gains were seen in 10 other states. Thirteen states and the Federal OCS sustained losses, while three states had no change in their well count.

As was true last year, seven states—Texas, Oklahoma, California, Kansas, Ohio, New Mexico and Louisiana—hold the largest number of producing wells. These states have 77% of the US producing oil wells.

Texas continues with the largest well count at 144,424, up 1,219 wells, a 0.9% increase from last year's 143,205 well count. District 9 expanded its producers the most, increasing its count by 539 to 19,727 producers. Districts 5, 7C, 8, 8A and 10 also had triple-digit increases: 211, 314, 309, 529 and 397 respectively. District 1 again had the largest reduction, off 871 wells.

Strong oil prices prevailed during 2006, but well counts continued to drop across much of the US. The second largest producing well count is in Oklahoma, where its 82,202 wells are 0.4% lower than last year's 82,533 well count, a loss of over 300 wells. California was one exception; the state gained 1,360 wells, which raised its count to 45,367 from last year's 44,007 producer count.

Kansas' producing well count was off 0.2% at 42,219 wells. This was a loss of 101 wells over 2005's 42,320 wells. Ohio showed a modest 234-well increase, a 0.8% gain, bringing its producer count to 29,188 oil wells.

Estimated US wells producing oil at the end of 2006 Click image for enlarged view

New Mexico had a 1.3% drop in its well count. The 309 wells that were lost reduced the state's active well count to 23,611 oil wells.

Louisiana also experienced a drop in its producer count. Its 1,653-well loss is a 7.5% decrease, which lowered its total to 20,309 wells. This compares to last year's 10% producer increase. Most of the losses were in North Louisiana, where 1,495 wells ceased production.

Because of the lack of specific information from many state agencies, World Oil estimates the total number of wells flowing and on artificial lift.