The Railroad Commission of Texas (Commission) issued a total of 673 original
drilling permits in November 2016 compared to 687 in November 2015. The November total
included 581 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, 10 to re-enter plugged well bores
and 82 for re-completions of existing well bores. The breakdown of well types for those
permits issued November 2016 included 145 oil, 38 gas, 449 oil or gas, 36 injection,
zero service and five other permits.
In November 2016, Commission staff processed 342 oil, 151 gas, 24 injection and one other
completions compared to 776 oil, 150 gas, 35 injection and four other completions in
November 2015. Total well completions for 2016 year to date are 9,923 down from 18,510
recorded during the same period in 2015.
According to Baker Hughes Inc., the Texas rig count as of December 2 was 286, representing
about 48 percent of all active rigs in the United States.
For additional drilling permit and completion statistics, visit the Commission’s
website at
http://www.rrc.texas.gov/oil-gas/research-and-statistics/well-information/
under "Monthly Drilling, Completion and Plugging Summaries".
TABLE 1 - NOVEMBER 2016 TEXAS OIL AND GAS DRILLING PERMITS AND COMPLETIONS BY RAILROAD
COMMISSION OF TEXAS DISTRICT*
DISTRICT PERMITS TO DRILL
OIL/GAS HOLES OIL COMPLETIONS GAS COMPLETIONS
(1) SAN ANTONIO AREA 63 73 27
(2) REFUGIO AREA 73 32 28
(3) SOUTHEAST TEXAS 21 11 38
(4) DEEP SOUTH TEXAS 15 4 11
(5) EAST CENTRAL TX 7 0 1
(6) EAST TEXAS 20 7 8
(7B) WEST CENTRAL TX 28 22 2
(7C) SAN ANGELO AREA 54 21 1
(8) MIDLAND 291 109 12
(8A) LUBBOCK AREA 64 25 1
(9) NORTH TEXAS 31 28 1
(10) PANHANDLE 6 10 21
TOTAL 673 342 151
*A district map is available on the Railroad Commission of Texas website at