Development drilling dropped to 2,045 wells in 1955 as compared with a high of 2,288 wells in 1954. Exploratory drilling remained almost constant with 1,104 wells drilled in 1955 as compared with 1,107 wells drilled in 1954. Despite the drop in development drilling, production increased 13%, from a total of 46,241,638 barrels in 1954, to a total of 53,109,505 barrels in 1955.

Taylor, Stonewall, Shackelford, Jones, and Fisher counties led the district in number of new discoveries. Important new-field discoveries include North Sweetwater and Ochoa Juan in Fisher County; Vena Madre, Silver Creek, Estaban, Nena Lucia, and Hightower in Nolan County; and Cedar Gap and North Tuscola in Taylor County. The most important events were the comparatively large numbers of new discoveries in the western halves of Fisher and Nolan counties and the sudden upswing of discoveries throughout Taylor County.