North American Drilling Activity in 1985

Abstract

This is the 50th consecutive annual report on drilling activity for the United States. Canadian drilling data have been included with these annual reports since 1948; Mexico provided data for the period 1948-1980. For 1985, Canada showed a 28.7% increase in total wells drilled (12,564 wells) and a 25.6% increase in the amount of footage drilled (45,066,842 ft). The 139 new-field wildcat discoveries represented a success rate of 29.6%. Of these discoveries, 48 were in Alberta, 37 were in Saskatchewan, and 24 were in British Columbia. New-field and new-pool wildcats accounted for 38.4% of the 1,907 exploratory discoveries. In Canada, 56% of the 3,404 exploratory wells drilled were successful. In the United States, total drilling activity during 1985 decreased 0.7% (to 83,609 wells), and footage drilled increased 2.2% (to 68,484 mi) compared with 1984. There were 1,009 new-field discoveries--a 14.7% increase from 1984. The ratio of new-field dry holes to producers was 5.31:1, and the success rate was 15.9%. Estimates of ultimate reserves reported as discovered in 1983-1985 in the United States are being reviewed by the Joint Task Group on Statistical Integrity of the Committee on Statistics of Drilling. Results of this study will be published in a later issue of the Bulletin.