This is the 15th report, based on data gathered by the Committee on Statistics of Exploratory Drilling. It is the 24th annual summary on the subject published in the Bulletin. Frederic H. Lahee prepared this statistical analysis and wrote the article for 20 consecutive years. Graham B. Moody prepared the report for 1956. This is the 3d year in which the present author has prepared this exploratory drilling analysis and report.

This report presents a comparison of 1959 data with the number of exploratory holes drilled, and footage drilled during 1958. Also by means of graphs a comparison of 1959 statistics with previous years inclusive of 1944. Ratios of profitable fields resulting from new-field wildcat discoveries are also shown. Trends are indicated by graphs of success ratios for new-field wildcats located on basis of geology, geophysics or the combination of both geology and geophysics. For the 12th time, we are presenting data on Canada and Mexico.

End_of_Article - Last_Page 1246------------