The counties included in this report are the 25 countries in the Texas Panhandle north of the line connecting the southwest corner of Parmer County with the southeast corner of Hall County, Childress County excluded.

There was a marked decrease in drilling operations in the Texas Panhandle in 1946 compared with 1945. In all, 317 new wells were drilled: 149 were completed as oil wells, 123 as gas wells, and 45 as dry holes.

Slightly less than 30,000,000 barrels of oil were produced in 1946, which is more than 1 million barrels less than was produced in 1945. More than 881 billion cubic feet of gas were produced in 1946, which is 85 million cubic feet less than was produced the previous year.

Only one of the 14 exploratory holes drilled in the Panhandle in 1946 was successful. The Texas Company's M. S. Bills No. 1 in Wheeler County, drilled as an extension to the East Shamrock pool, was completed as a 29-barrel pumper. The Stanolind Oil and Gas Company's O. V. Beck No. 1 in Hartley County was drilled to granite.

There has been an increase in geophysical exploration in the Anadarko basin, resulting in new lease blocks, additions to lease blocks already held, and the drilling of numerous core and stratigraphic tests.

Two exploratory holes were drilled in the Anadarko basin in 1946. The British American Oil Company's Buzzard No. 1 in Ochiltree County was dry and abandoned at 3,852 feet, and O. P. Flynn's Hoover-Patton No. 1, in Ochiltree County, was dry and abandoned at 6,198 feet.