Texas drilling permits drop 49.8% in April

Drilling activity has dropped in Texas and elsewhere in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the crude oil price rout.

The Railroad Commission of Texas has reported that it issued 456 original drilling permits in April.

That compares to 909 permits issued in April 2019. That is a drop of 49.8%.

That permit count is also down from the 744 permits issued in March.

That total was a drop from the 1,137 permits in March 2019. That is a drop of 34.5%.

The April 2020 breakdown included 97 oil, 15 gas, 311 oil or gas, 15 injection and 18 other permits.

That included 263 permits in the Midland area in the Permian Basin of West Texas.

Texas also approved 981 oil, 246 gas and 249 injection completion permits in April 2020.

That compares to 593 oil, 143 gas and 36 injection completions in April 2019.

In March 2020, the commission approved 1,054 oil, 313 gas and 240 injection completions, compared to 493 oil, 127 gas and 43 injection completions in March 2019.

The April 2020 total includes 403 new oil completions and 105 natural gas completions in the Midland area of the Permian Basin.

Source: Kallanish Energy

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