The total number of wells drilled in West Virginia in 1954 reported to February 25, 1955, was 760, an increase of 48, or 6.74 per cent. Permits to drill or deepen totaled 791, or 79 more than in 1953, or an increase of 11 per cent. Abandoned during the year were 371 gas wells and 164 oil wells, or a total of 535 wells. Wells completed were: gas, 471; oil, 57; oil and gas, 31; storage, brine, water-injection, and pressure wells, 77; dry holes, 124; total, 760. Compared with 1953, gas wells increased 20, or 4.4 per cent; oil wells increased 7, or 14 per cent; oil and gas wells increased 7, or 29 per cent; storage and other wells increased 24, or 56 per cent; dry holes decreased 20, or 13.9 per cent. Depth of wells completed ranged from 471 to 8,185 feet, compared with 345 t 8,508 feet in 1953. Total footage drilled (2,083,554 feet) increased 124,105 feet, or 6.3 per cent over 1953 (1,959,449 feet). The average depth of wells (2,742 feet) increased 4 feet. The total initial daily open flow of the gas wells was 394,025 MCF, an increase of 245 MCF. The size of the gas wells ranged from 7 to 24,000 MCF, compared with 12 to 22,247 MCF in 1953. The total daily initial oil was 1,940½ barrels, 1,342 barrels more than in 1953, or 224.4 per cent. The size of the oil wells ranged from ½ barrel to 275 barrels daily, compared with 3/4 barrel to 90 barrels in 1953. The number of wells drilling or unreported if completed at the end of the year was 257, 12 less than in 1953, a decrease of 4.46 per cent. Letters were sent to 191 operators regarding 398 wells not eported. Replies were received from 106 operators regarding 285 wells, leaving 85 operators unheard from regarding 113 wells. The average size of gas wells was 810 MCF, compared with 850 MCF in 1953, or a 4.7 per cent decrease. The average size of the oil wells was 26.8 barrels, compared with 9.2 barrels in 1953, an increase of 17.6 barrels, or 191.3 per cent. Preliminary estimates of production for 1953: gas, 170,000,000 MCF, compared with 180,000,000 MCF estimated for 1953, or a decrease of 5.55 per cent; oil, 2,900,000 barrels, a decrease of 100,000 barrels under the 1953 estimate (3,000,000 barrels), or 3 1/3 per cent. Production at this high level was largely due to water flooding. The estimated number of producing wells at the end of 1954: gas, 13,884; oil, 12,864. The table of ope ations gives statistics by counties.