Oil and Gas Developments in Southeastern States in 1984

Abstract

Total drilling activity in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, including both exploratory and development wells, increased 10.5% from 779 in 1983 to 861 in 1984. However, exploratory drilling in the southeastern states during 1984 increased only 2.0%. There were 364 exploratory tests in 1984, of which 55 were successful for a 15.1% success rate. This compares to 1983's 52 successful completions out of 357 tests, a 14.6% success rate. The shallow Eocene Wilcox trend in southwest Mississippi accounted for 28.8% of the exploratory tests in the southeastern states in 1984. This active trend had only 7 new-field discoveries compared to 11 new-field discoveries in 1983. The Paleozoic trend of northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama had 18 new-field discoveries compared with 17 the previous year. This trend represented 24.7% of the exploratory drilling activity in the southeast. The Upper Cretaceous trend had 8 new-field discoveries, 33.3% more than in 1983 when 6 new-field discoveries were made. The Upper Cretaceous accounted for 18.4% of the total exploratory effort in the southeast in 1984. The Jurassic, Miocene, and Lower Cretaceous trends accounted respectively for 15.1%, 6.9%, and 6.0% of the total exploratory ests. Six new-field discoveries were reported in the Jurassic, 3 in the Miocene, and 3 in the Lower Cretaceous.