U.S. DRILLING SLUMPED IN '89; INFILL, HEAVY OIL, COALBED GAS WORK BUSY

Sept. 10, 1990
G. Alan Petzet Exploration Editor The number of wells drilled in the U.S. in 1989, when all wells have been reported, will be the lowest in nearly two decades, says Petroleum Information Corp.'s Resume 1989 yearbook. PI expects operators eventually to report that about 28,100 wells were completed during 1989, down more than 16% from 1988's 33,500. Of 21,398 completions on record at yearend 1989, 37.4% were oil wells, the lowest oil tally in nearly 20 years. The number of gas
G. Alan Petzet
Exploration Editor

The number of wells drilled in the U.S. in 1989, when all wells have been reported, will be the lowest in nearly two decades, says Petroleum Information Corp.'s Resume 1989 yearbook.

PI expects operators eventually to report that about 28,100 wells were completed during 1989, down more than 16% from 1988's 33,500.

Of 21,398 completions on record at yearend 1989, 37.4% were oil wells, the lowest oil tally in nearly 20 years. The number of gas completions totaled 6,401.

The year 1989 was the first in which operators drilled more footage in gas wells than in oil wells. They cut 33.45 million ft of hole in gas wells, compared with 33.37 million ft in oil wells.

Gas completions accounted for a record 44.4% of successful drilling in 1989, up from a 35% share in 1988 and 29.2% in 1987.

About 80% of total 1989 well completions were infill wells, PI said.

The publication's universe of domestic operators of record fell to 4,400 in 1989. The universe peaked at 12,790 operators in 1982 and has fallen every year since then. It was 5,085 in 1988.

WHERE DRILLING OCCURRED

About two thirds of 1989 completions reported by yearend were in the top 10 provinces.

They are Permian Basin 2,590 wells, Gulf Coast 2,518, Appalachian basin 2,193, Anadarko basin 1,668, San Joaquin basin 1,251, Bend arch 1,203, Illinois basin 951, Chautauqua platform 892, Michigan basin 684, and Arkla basin 676.

Kern County, Calif., alone was the site of 1,151 completions, more than 5% of U.S. completions reported by yearend 1989.

Second busiest U.S. county was Otsego, in Michigan, where a shallow Devonian Antrim gas play resulted in 425 completions in 1989.

The next busiest counties were Weld County, Colo., 232 completions; Andrews County, West Texas, 201; Lea County, N.M., 182; Panola County, Tex., 162; Rio Arriba County, N.M., 156; Eddy County, N.M., 147; and Webb and Wichita counties, Tex., each 146.

The two most active U.S. fields by far were California's South Belridge with 443 completions and Midway-Sunset with 430.

Burgeoning coalbed methane drilling helped several fields into the top 25. Basin field in New Mexico's San Juan basin had 228 completions, Oak Grove Coal Degasification field in Alabama had 96, and Colorado's Ignacio-Blanco field had 86.

Northwestern Louisiana's Caddo-Pine Island field, the most drilled U.S. field in 1983 through 1985, posted only 22 completions. Longwood gas field, in Caddo Parish, was the Arkla region's most drilled field in 1989 with 26 completions.

DEPTH FIGURES

Deep drilling declined, and relatively shallow drilling for coalbed methane and Devonian shale gas surged, shaking up average depth figures in several areas.

Drilling to 15,000 ft or more involved 243 wells in 1989, down from 328 in 1988.

South Louisiana had 69 deep wells, Texas 52, and Oklahoma 41.

The year's deepest well was Chevron U.S.A. Inc. 1 Mississippi Sound Block 57 Unit, off Harrison County, Miss. A dry hole, it went to 23,550 ft.

Average well depths rose and fell dramatically in several areas. Average depth of the 353 Arkoma basin wells completed by yearend was 5,200 ft, 421 ft deeper than in 1988.

Intense Jurassic Cotton Valley gas infill drilling in East Texas pushed the average well depth there to 7,571 ft, 924 ft deeper than in 1988.

The average northern New Mexico well in 1989 was 3,577 ft deep, 1,501 ft shallower than the 10 year average. The average Alabama well was 3,633 ft deep, 2,368 ft shallower than in 1988.

However, PI points out that coalbed methane drilling did not affect Alabama's rig count much because the rigs used to drill the shallow wells are, for the most part, not tallied by Baker Hughes Inc.

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