During 1948, 873 wells were drilled in the East Texas district; of this number 147 were wildcats and field-extension wells. Twenty-one new-field and new-pool discoveries were drilled; 12 of the 21 were considered new-field wildcats; 3 were deeper-pool discoveries, 6 were shallower-pool discoveries; and the remainder of the 147 were dry holes. These developments include new production from formations as follows: sub-Clarksville 3, Woodbine, 4, Goodland 1, Paluxy 2, Rodessa 5, Pettit 4, and Travis Peak 2. None appears to be a major discovery, with the exception of Mitchell Creek, Paluxy discovery by the Shell Oil Company on an extension of the Talco fault system. New producing zones were discovered in the Coke, Yantis, Blackfoot, Quitman, Tri-Cities, and Jefferson fields. >

Accumulated production for the district has reached a total of 3,470,346,500 barrels. Of this total, 2,588,533,142 barrels have been produced from the East Texas field. This year's production from the entire district was slightly lower than the previous year, being 174,580,000 barrels as compared with 174,846,263 for 1947.

Approximately 448,100 acres were leased during the year at an average price of $9.38 per acre.

Geophysical exploration work weeks increased 9 per cent over 1947 for a total of 877 work weeks. This increased activity has been distributed throughout the counties in the central and southern part of the district.