This report, the 12th based on data gathered by the Committee on Statistics of Exploratory Drilling, is the 21st annual summary on the subject published in the Bulletin. Frederic H. Lahee prepared this statistical analysis and wrote the annual article for 20 consecutive years. The current writer agreed to act as chairman of the Committee for one year because no one else was available. He is pleased indeed to announce that B. W. Blanpied of the Gulf Oil Corporation will be chairman for the coming year.

During 1956, 16,173 exploratory holes were drilled in the United States. Of these 8,709 were new-field wildcats, 3,841 were new-pool tests (including new-pool wildcats, deeper-pool tests, and shallower-pool tests), and 3,623 were outposts. Among the new-field wildcats, 868 were successful; among the new-pool tests 1,021 were successful; and among the outposts 1,207 were successful.

The total exploratory footage drilled in the United States in 1956 was 73,981,176 ft. in the 16,173 holes, or 4,574 ft. per hole. These figures compare with 69,173,209 ft. drilled in 14,937 exploratory holes, with an average depth of 4,631 ft. in 1955. For the ninth time, we are presenting data on Canada and Mexico.

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