County oilfields produce 1.17 million barrels in September

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Production from Scurry County’s oilfields continue to drop compared to 2016, and in October, permits for new wells and completions both declined compared to last month and last year, according to information from the Railroad Commission of Texas. 

Scurry County oil wells produced 1.17 million barrels in September, down from August’s 1.19 million barrels, and about 30,000 barrels less than September 2016. County operators have reported 10.8 million barrels of oil produced year-to-date, compared to 11.5 million barrels over the same time period last year.

The commission issued 12 new permits to drill in Scurry County in October, four fewer than in both September 2017 and September 2016.

In districts 8 and 8A, which includes Scurry and the surrounding counties, 502 permits to drill were issued in October, compared to 496 in September and 623 in August.

The commission issued a total of 997 original drilling permits in October 2017 compared to 855 in October 2016. The October 2017 total included 885 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, five to re-enter plugged well bores and 107 for re-completions of existing well bores. The breakdown of well types for those permits issued in October 2017 included 236 oil, 46 gas, 646 oil or gas, 48 injection, zero service and 21 other permits.

Scurry County operators reported 24 completions in October, eight fewer than the 32 reported in September and 19 fewer than the 43 completions reported in October 2016.

In districts 8 and 8A, 95 completions were reported in October compared to 122 in September and 284 in August.

In October, the commission staff processed 257 oil, 91 gas, 39 injection and four other completions compared to 445 oil, 203 gas, 20 injection and zero other completions in October 2016. Total well completions processed for 2017 year-to-date are 5,799, down from 9,405 recorded during the same period in 2016.

Statewide production for September was 69.2 million barrels of crude oil and 519.2 million mcf (thousand cubic feet) of total gas from oil and gas wells. These preliminary figures are based on production volumes reported by operators and will be updated as late and corrected production reports are received. Production reported to the commission for September 2016 was 71.4 million barrels of crude oil preliminarily, updated to a current figure of just less than 81.4 million barrels.

The commission reported that from October 2016 to September 2017, total reported Texas production was 997,000 million barrels of crude oil and 7.6 trillion cubic feet of total gas. Crude oil production reported by the commission is limited to oil produced from oil leases and does not include condensate, which is reported separately by the commission.

Texas preliminary September 2017 crude oil production averaged 2.3 million barrels daily, compared to the 2.38 million barrels daily average of September 2016.

Texas production in September 2017 came from 179,660 oil wells and 90,530 gas wells.

Midland County held the top producing spot in September with 7.66 million barrels, up slightly from last month’s 7.6 million barrels. 

Karnes County operators reported 5.02 million barrels, down from more than 5.6 million barrels in August.