This is the tenth annual report on data gathered by the committee on statistics of exploratory drilling.

During 1954, 13,097 exploratory holes were drilled in the United States. Of these 7,380 were new-field wildcats, 3,085 were new-pool tests (including new-pool wildcats, deeper-pool tests, and shallower-pool tests), and 2,632 were outposts. Among the new-field wildcats, 902 were successful; among the new-pool tests, 883 were successful; and among the outposts, 923 were successful.

The total exploratory footage drilled in the United States in 1954 was 59,581,038 feet in the 13,097 holes, or 4,549 feet per hole. These figures compare with 60,702,371 feet drilled in 13,313 exploratory holes, with an average depth of 4,560 feet, in 1953. For the seventh time we are presenting data on Canada and Mexico.

Because the summary of the data gathered annually by this committee is the most reliable analysis available of the Industry's exploratory drilling for oil and gas, and because the facts presented in this analysis demonstrate the high degree of risk in exploratory drilling and, therefore, the need and fairness of the 27½ per cent depletion allowance, the work of the committee should most certainly go on without interruption in time or omission of any district.