Texas natural gas, oil production down in latest reporting periods: regulator

Texas’ average rig count and production of oil and gas fell in the latest available reporting periods, the state’s oil and gas regulator said Monday.

Texas’ latest average rig count, as of March 20, was 464, down from 598 on February 13, the Railroad Commission of Texas said, citing Baker Hughes statistics. The March rig count represented about 45% of all active land rigs in the US. In March 2014, the commission reported an average rig count of 854.

In the commission’s final production estimate for January, the state produced 81 million barrels of oil and 536.3 Bcf of natural gas. The commission’s final production estimate for December was 83.7 million barrels of oil and 553.2 Bcf of natural gas. The commission’s final January 2014 production estimate was 69.9 million barrels of oil and 566.5 Bcf of natural gas.

The estimate of Texas’ natural gas in storage in March is 228.1 Bcf, compared with 247.1 Bcf in February and 175.1 Bcf in February 2014, the commission said.

January’s production came from 167,203 oil wells and 91,150 gas wells, the commission said. December’s production came from 160,670 oil wells and 90,448 gas wells. January 2014’s production came from 161,533 oil wells and 92,269 gas wells.

The commission said Texas produced 914 million barrels of oil and 8.2 Tcf of natural gas over the past 12 months, compared with 724 million barrels of oil and 7.8 Tcf of natural gas over the comparable period of 2013-2014.

The commission issued 924 original drilling permits in February, down from 1,682 in February 2014. This February’s total included 827 permits for new oil and gas wells, seven to re-enter existing well bores and 90 for re-completions.

This February, operators reported 1,521 oil, 210 gas, 245 injection, and three other completions, the commission said. In February 2014, the commission said operators reported 2,768 oil, 232 gas, 131 injection, and 11 other completions.

The commission said operators reported 880 holes plugged and no dry holes this February. In February 2014, operators reported 802 holes plugged and no dry holes, the commission said. – Platts