Abstract

As expected, 1987 was a bad year for the oil and gas industry. In west Texas and eastern New Mexico 3,152 wells were drilled, and 18.1% decrease from 1986. The success rate for all wells was 76.05, an increase over 1986, but still lower than the 79.9% success rate in 1985. The number of exploratory wells drilled was down 30.8% from 1986 and total exploratory footage was down 32.8%. The success rate for exploratory drilling increased from 19.6% in 1986 to 21.2% in 1987. Development activity decreased 14.8% in 1987 and development footage also decreased, down 17.0%. Seismic crew activity decreased markedly, down 25.0% from 1986. Oil production for 1987 was 492,530,106 bbls, down 6.2% from 1986, while gas production for 1987 was up 3.5% to 1,874,323 mmcf. Leasing activity showed an increase in terms of acres leased as well as bonus paid. Acreage leased was up 67.0% and total bonuses paid were up 72.0%. While this translates to a very modest increase in bonus paid per acre of only 3%, this is the first increase in six years.