Section 5. Crude oil and natural gas resource development

Monthly Energy Review, May, 2005

Table 5.1 Crude Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Activity Measurements

                                  Rotary Rigs in Operation (a)

                              By Site                  By Type

                        Onshore    Offshore    Crude Oil    Natural Gas

                                            Average

1973 Average             1,110        84           NA             NA
1974 Average             1,378        94           NA             NA
1975 Average             1,554       106           NA             NA
1976 Average             1,529       129           NA             NA
1977 Average             1,834       167           NA             NA
1978 Average             2,074       185           NA             NA
1979 Average             1,970       207           NA             NA
1980 Average             2,678       231           NA             NA
1981 Average             3,714       256           NA             NA
1982 Average             2,862       243           NA             NA
1983 Average             2,033       199           NA             NA
1984 Average             2,215       213           NA             NA
1985 Average             1,774       206           NA             NA
1986 Average               865        99           NA             NA
1987 Average               841        95           NA             NA
1988 Average               813       123          554            354
1989 Average               764       105          453            401
1990 Average               902       108          532            464
1991 Average               779        81          482            351
1992 Average               669        52          373            331
1993 Average               672        82          373            364
1994 Average               673       102          335            427
1995 Average               622       101          323            385
1996 Average               671       108          306            464
1997 Average               821       122          376            564
1998 Average               703       123          264            560
1999 Average               519       106          128            496
2000 Average               778       140          197            720
2001 Average             1,003       153          217            939
2002 Average               717       113          137            691

2003 January               743       111          132            718
     February              797       110          153            750
     March                 836       105          171            767
     April                 877       106          185            795
     May                   921       113          167            864
     June                  958       109          152            910
     July                  974       107          153            924
     August                979       111          153            932
     September             984       109          154            936
     October               997       105          158            941
     November            1,005       106          158            952
     December            1,010       104          153            959
     Average               924       108          157            872

2004 January             1,001       100          143            955
     February            1,020        99          153            961
     March               1,041        94          164            968
     April               1,058        93          154            996
     May                 1,068        96          156          1,007
     June                1,080        96          164          1,011
     July                1,116        97          170          1,041
     August              1,139        95          170          1,063
     September           1,148        92          166          1,073
     October             1,145        95          171          1,068
     November            1,160       102          183          1,077
     December            1,140       106          180          1,064
     Average             1,095        97          165          1,025

2005 January             1,153       102          178          1,075
     February            1,170       106          192          1,083
     March               1,209        97          186          1,118
     April               1,241        93          171          1,163
     4-Month Average     1,197        98          181          1,113

2004 4-Month Average     1,032        96          153            971
2003 4-Month Average       810       107          159            755

                        Rotary Rigs in
                         Operation (a)       Total          Active
                                            Footage      Well Service
                          Total (b)       Drilled (c)    Rig Count (d)

                                           Thousand
                           Average           Feet           Number

1973 Average                1,194            138,223           NA
1974 Average                1,472            153.374           NA
1975 Average                1,660            180,494           NA
1976 Average                1,658            186,982           NA
1977 Average                2,001            215,866           NA
1978 Average                2,259            238,669           NA
1979 Average                2,177            244,798           NA
1980 Average                2,909            314,654           NA
1981 Average                3,970            413,112           NA
1982 Average                3,105            378,295           NA
1983 Average                2,232            317,986           NA
1984 Average                2,428            371,392           NA
1985 Average                1,980            313,045           NA
1986 Average                  964            181,856           NA
1987 Average                  936            162,178           NA
1988 Average                  936            156,354           NA
1989 Average                  869            134,439           NA
1990 Average                1,010            153,701           NA
1991 Average                  860            143,021           NA
1992 Average                  721            121,124           NA
1993 Average                  754            135,118           NA
1994 Average                  775            124,809           NA
1995 Average                  723            117,832           NA
1996 Average                  779            129,345           NA
1997 Average                  943            156,661           NA
1998 Average                  827            143,454           NA
1999 Average                  625             99,410           NA
2000 Average                  918            141,392           NA
2001 Average                1,156            187,616           NA
2002 Average                  830            138,310         1,830

2003 January                  854             12,962         1,898
     February                 907             10,866         1,928
     March                    941             13,269         1,950
     April                    983             14,409         1,954
     May                    1,034             14,515         1,927
     June                   1,067             15,080         1,957
     July                   1,081             15,637         2,016
     August                 1,090             15,776         2,026
     September              1,093             15,796         1,966
     October                1,102             16,156         2,064
     November               1,111             16,307         1,973
     December               1,114             16,301         1,946
     Average                1,032            177,074         1,967

2004 January                1,101             15,957         2,019
     February               1,119             13,531         2,043
     March                  1,135             16,508         2,047
     April                  1,151             16,642         2,050
     May                    1,164             16,687         2,095
     June                   1,176             16,905         2,067
     July                   1,213             17,174         2,068
     August                 1,234             17,462         2,106
     September              1,240             17,485         2,078
     October                1,240             17,543         2,111
     November               1,262             17,935         2,024
     December               1,246             17,693         2,063
     Average                1,192            201,523         2,064

2005 January                1,255             17,791         2,091
     February               1,276             18,218         2,144
     March                  1,306             18,622         2,143
     April                  1,334             18,776         2,216
     4-Month Average        1,295             73,407         2,149

2004 4-Month Average        1,128             62,638         2,040
2003 4-Month Average          917             51,506         1,933

(a) Rotary rigs in operation are reported weekly. Monthly data are
averages of 4- or 5-week reporting periods, not calendar months.
Multi-month data are averages of the reported data over the covered
months, not averages of the weekly data. Annual data are averages over
52 or 53 weeks, not calendar years. Published data are rounded to the
nearest whole number.

(b) Sum of rigs drilling for crude oil, rigs drilling for natural gas,
and other rigs (not shown) drilling for miscellaneous purposes, such as
service wells, injection wells, and stratigraphic tests.

(c) Values shown are totals.

(d) The number of rigs doing true workovers (where tubing is pulled
from the well), or doing rod string and pump repair operations, and
that are, on average, crewed and working every day of the month.

NA=Not available.

Note: Geographic coverage is the 50 States and the District of
Columbia.

Web Page: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/resource.html.

Sources: * Rotary Rigs in Operation: By Site--Baker Hughes, Inc.,
Houston, Texas, Rotary Rigs Running--by State. By Type--Baker Hughes,
Inc., Houston, Texas, weekly phone recording. * Total Footage Drilled:
Energy Information Administration computations, which are based on well
reports submitted to the American Petroleum Institute by the Petroleum
Information Corporation, Denver, Colorado. * Active Well Service Rig
Count: Weatherford International, Inc., Houston, Texas.

Table 5.2 Crude Oil and Natural Gas Wells Drilled

(Number of Wells)

                                    Exploratory

                      Crude    Natural
                       Oil       Gas       Dry       Total

1973 Total              642     1,067      5,952      7,661
1974 Total              859     1,190      6,833      8,882
1975 Total              982     1,248      7,129      9,359
1976 Total            1,086     1,346      6,772      9,204
1977 Total            1,164     1,548      7,283      9,995
1978 Total            1,171     1,771      7,965     10,907
1979 Total            1,321     1,907      7,437     10,665
1980 Total            1,764     2,081      9,039     12,884
1981 Total            2,636     2,514     12,349     17,499
1982 Total            2,431     2,125     11,247     15,803
1983 Total            2,023     1,593     10,148     13,764
1984 Total            2,198     1,521     11,278     14,997
1985 Total            1,679     1,190      8,924     11,793
1986 Total            1,084       793      5,549      7,426
1987 Total              925       754      5,049      6,728
1988 Total              855       743      4,693      6,291
1989 Total              607       705      3,924      5,236
1990 Total              654       689      3,715      5,058
1991 Total              592       534      3,314      4,440
1992 Total              493       423      2,513      3,429
1993 Total              502       548      2,469      3,519
1994 Total              570       726      2,405      3,701
1995 Total              542       570      2,198      3,310
1996 Total              483       570      2,136      3,189
1997 Total              428       536      2,110      3,074
1998 Total              291       504      1,647      2,442
1999 Total              157       539      1,195      1,891
2000 Total              264     R 607      1,288    R 2,159
2001 Total              322       988      1,669      2,979
2002 Total              231       668      1,253      2,152

2003 January             23        49        106        178
     February            27        35         68        130
     March               22        46         86        154
     April               21        65         92        178
     May                 22        53         91        166
     June                35        53         98        186
     July                32        76        133        241
     August              32        77        112        221
     September           26        95         97        218
     October             28        78        132        238
     November            28        78        134        240
     December            17        79        134        230
     Total              313       815      1,283      2,411

2004 January             26        71        115        212
     February            22        94         66        182
     March               24        72        119        215
     April               32        74         90        196
     May                 31        75        102        208
     June                24        75         96        195
     July                25        77        127        229
     August              25        79        129        233
     September           24        79        129        232
     October             25        79        130        234
     November            26        80        133        239
     December            26        79        131        236
     Total              310       934      1,367      2,611

2005 January             26        80        132        238
     February            28        80        135        243
     March               29        87        138        254
     April               26        90        139        255
     4-Month Total      109       337        544        990

2004 4-Month Total      104       311        390        805
2004 4-Month Total       93       195        352        640

                                     Development

                      Crude     Natural
                       Oil        Gas         Dry       Total

1973 Total             9,525       5,866      4,368      19,759
1974 Total            12,788       5,948      5,283      24,019
1975 Total            15,966       6,879      6,517      29,362
1976 Total            16,602       8,063      6,986      31,651
1977 Total            17,581      10,574      7,702      35,857
1978 Total            18,010      12,642      8,586      39,238
1979 Total            19,530      13,347      8,662      41,539
1980 Total            30,875      15,252     11,599      57,726
1981 Total            40,962      17,652     15,440      74,054
1982 Total            36,768      16,854     14,972      68,594
1983 Total            35,097      12,971     14,005      62,073
1984 Total            40,407      15,606     14,403      70,416
1985 Total            33,439      12,978     12,132      58,549
1986 Total            18,013       7,723      7,129      32,865
1987 Total            15,239       7,301      6,063      28,603
1988 Total            12,781       7,812      5,348      25,941
1989 Total             9,597       8,834      4,264      22,695
1990 Total            11,544      10,355      4,598      26,497
1991 Total            11,178       8,992      4,282      24,452
1992 Total             8,264       7,786      3,605      19,655
1993 Total             7,905       9,469      3,859      21,233
1994 Total             6,151       8,812      2,902      17,865
1995 Total             7,085       7,784      2,877      17,746
1996 Total             7,831       8,732      3,146      19,709
1997 Total            10,008      10,791      3,592      24,391
1998 Total             6,773      10,640      3,193      20,606
1999 Total             4,019      10,338      2,217      16,574
2000 Total             7,094    R 15,848      2,737    R 25,679
2001 Total             7,738      21,095      2,415      31,248
2002 Total             5,824      15,487      2,328      23,639

2003 January             528       1,326        202       2,056
     February            434       1,113        157       1,704
     March               493       1,423        142       2,058
     April               621       1,458        211       2,290
     May                 627       1,601        197       2,425
     June                632       1,690        184       2,506
     July                637       1,694        195       2,526
     August              635       1,708        279       2,622
     September           658       1,698        227       2,583
     October             622       1,724        258       2,604
     November            448       1,745        174       2,367
     December            636       1,758        178       2,572
     Total             6,971      18,907      2,404      28,282

2004 January             483       1,439        168       2,090
     February            512       1,423        142       2,077
     March               550       1,798        230       2,578
     April               605       1,850        194       2,649
     May                 599       1,577      R 196     R 2,372
     June                547       1,787        175       2,509
     July                570       1,934        245       2,749
     August              570       1,975        249       2,794
     September           556       1,994        249       2,799
     October             572       1,985        250       2,807
     November            613       2,001        256       2,870
     December            603       1,976        252       2,831
     Total             6,780      21,739    R 2,606    R 31,125

2005 January             595       1,998        253       2,846
     February            643       2,012        260       2,915
     March               670       2,084        259       3,013
     April               608       2,168        263       3,039
     4-Month Total     2,516       8,262      1,035      11,813

2004 4-Month Total     2,150       6,510        734       9,394
2004 4-Month Total     2,076       5,320        712       8,108

                                        Total

                      Crude     Natural
                       Oil        Gas        Dry       Total

1973 Total            10,167     6,933      10,320      27,420
1974 Total            13,647     7,138      12,116      32,901
1975 Total            16,948     8,127      13,646      38,721
1976 Total            17,688     9,409      13,758      40,855
1977 Total            18,745    12,122      14,985      45,852
1978 Total            19,181    14,413      16,551      50,145
1979 Total            20,851    15,254      16,099      52,204
1980 Total            32,639    17,333      20,638      70,610
1981 Total            43,598    20,166      27,789      91,553
1982 Total            39,199    18,979      26,219      84,397
1983 Total            37,120    14,564      24,153      75,837
1984 Total            42,605    17,127      25,681      85,413
1985 Total            35,118    14,168      21,056      70,342
1986 Total            19,097     8,516      12,678      40,291
1987 Total            16,164     8,055      11,112      35,331
1988 Total            13,636     8,555      10,041      32,232
1989 Total            10,204     9,539       8,188      27,931
1990 Total            12,198    11,044       8,313      31,555
1991 Total            11,770     9,526       7,596      28,892
1992 Total             8,757     8,209       6,118      23,084
1993 Total             8,407    10,017       6,328      24,752
1994 Total             6,721     9,538       5,307      21,566
1995 Total             7,627     8,354       5,075      21,056
1996 Total             8,314     9,302       5,282      22,898
1997 Total            10,436    11,327       5,702      27,465
1998 Total             7,064    11,144       4,840      23,048
1999 Total             4,176    10,877       3,412      18,465
2000 Total             7,358    16,455       4,025      27,838
2001 Total             8,060    22,083       4,084      34,227
2002 Total             6,058    16,155       3,581      25,794

2003 January             551     1,375         308       2,234
     February            461     1,148         225       1,834
     March               515     1,469         228       2,212
     April               642     1,523         303       2,468
     May                 649     1,654         288       2,591
     June                667     1,743         282       2,692
     July                669     1,770         328       2,767
     August              667     1,785         391       2,843
     September           684     1,793         324       2,801
     October             650     1,802         390       2,842
     November            476     1,823         308       2,607
     December            653     1,837         312       2,802
     Total             7,284    19,722       3,687      30,693

2004 January             509     1,510         283       2,302
     February            534     1,517         208       2,259
     March               574     1,870         349       2,793
     April               637     1,924         284       2,845
     May                 630     1,652       R 298     R 2,580
     June                571     1,862         271       2,704
     July                595     2,011         372       2,978
     August              595     2,054         378       3,027
     September           580     2,073         378       3,031
     October             597     2,064         380       3,041
     November            639     2,081         389       3,109
     December            629     2,055         383       3,067
     Total             7,090    22,673     R 3,973    R 33,736

2005 January             621     2,078         385       3,084
     February            671     2,092         395       3,158
     March               699     2,171         397       3,267
     April               634     2,258         402       3,294
     4-Month Total     2,625     8,599       1,579      12,803

2004 4-Month Total     2,254     6,821       1,124      10,199
2004 4-Month Total     2,169     5,515       1,064       8,748

R=Revised.

Notes: * These well counts include only the original drilling of a
hole intended to discover or further develop already discovered crude
oil or natural gas resources. Other drilling activities, such as
drilling an old well deeper, drilling of laterals from the original
well, drilling of service and injection wells, and drilling for
resources other than crude oil or natural gas are excluded. Due to the
methodology used to estimate ultimate well counts from the available
partially reported data, the counts shown on this page are frequently
revised. See notes at end of section. * Geographic coverage is the 50
States and the District of Columbia.

Web Page: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/resource.html.

Sources: * 1973-1994: Energy Information Administration (EIA),
computations based on well reports submitted to the American Petroleum
Institute. * 1995 forward: EIA computations based on well reports
submitted to the Information Handling Services Energy Group, Inc.

Table 5.3 Maximum U.S. Active Seismic Crew Counts

(Number of Crews)

                      48 States, Onshore

                  Dimensions (c)

                   2     3    4     Total (d)

2000 March         4    36    1        41
     April         4    36    1        41
     May           3    34    1        38
     June          5    37    1        43
     July          4    39    1        44
     August        4    40    1        45
     September     3    39    1        43
     October       4    41    1        46
     November      4    40    1        46
     December      5    41    1        48

2001 January       5    38    1        44
     February      6    38    1        45
     March         6    38    1        45
     April         7    39    1        47
     May           7    37    1        45
     June          6    35    1        42
     July          6    35    1        42
     August        8    32    1        41
     September     8    30    1        39
     October       5    33    1        39
     November      7    34    1        42
     December      7    33    1        41

2002 January       6    32    0        38
     February      9    31    0        40
     March         9    26    0        35
     April         7    25    0        32
     May           8    24    0        32
     June          9    23    0        32
     July          8    26    0        34
     August        7    26    0        33
     September     9    28    0        37
     October       8    30    0        38
     November      8    27    0        35
     December      8    22    0        31

2003 January       8    19    1        28
     February      9    20    0        29
     March         8    20    0        28
     April         7    20    0        27
     May           7    17    0        24
     June          7    18    0        25
     July          7    21    0        28
     August        8    22    0        30
     September     8    22    0        30
     October       7    24    0        31
     November      7    24    0        31
     December      7    25    0        32

2004 January       8    25    0        33
     February      8    27    0        35
     March         8    27    0        35
     April         9    27    0        36
     May           9    26    0        35
     June          9    30    0        39
     July          8    30    0        38
     August        8    31    0        39
     September     8    32    0        40
     October       8    34    0        42
     November      9    33    0        42
     December      9    32    0        41

2005 January       8    33    0        41
     February      8    34    0        42
     March         6    33    0        39
     April         8    30    0        38

                    48 States, Offshore (a)

                  Dimensions (c)

                   2     3    4     Total (d)

2000 March         7    11    0        19
     April         7    11    0        19
     May           6    11    0        18
     June          7     9    0        17
     July          6     6    0        13
     August        7     7    0        15
     September     7     8    0        16
     October       7     9    0        17
     November      7     8    0        16
     December      8     8    0        17

2001 January       9     7    0        17
     February      8     7    0        16
     March         9     9    0        18
     April         9     9    0        18
     May           9     8    0        17
     June          9     7    0        16
     July          8     8    0        16
     August        7     8    0        15
     September     6     9    0        15
     October       9    10    0        19
     November      7    10    0        17
     December      8     9    0        17

2002 January       8     6    0        14
     February      9     6    0        15
     March        10     7    0        17
     April         9     7    0        16
     May           9     8    0        17
     June          9     7    0        16
     July          8     8    0        16
     August        8     7    0        15
     September    10     7    0        17
     October      10     7    0        17
     November      8     5    0        13
     December      7     4    0        11

2003 January       8     4    0        12
     February      8     4    0        12
     March         7     4    0        11
     April         7     4    0        11
     May           8     4    0        12
     June          8     4    0        12
     July          7     4    0        11
     August        7     4    0        11
     September     7     2    0         9
     October       5     3    0         8
     November      4     3    0         7
     December      5     5    0        10

2004 January       5     5    0        10
     February      5     5    0        10
     March         5     5    0        10
     April         5     4    0         9
     May           5     4    0         9
     June          4     4    0         8
     July          4     4    0         8
     August        4     4    0         8
     September     4     2    0         6
     October       2     2    0         4
     November      1     4    0         5
     December      3     4    0         7

2005 January       5     4    0         9
     February      5     4    0         9
     March         6     6    0        12
     April         6     6    0        12

                          Alaska (b)

                  Dimensions (c)

                   2     3    4     Total (d)    Total

2000 March         1     1    0         2         62
     April         1     2    0         3         63
     May           1     2    0         3         59
     June          1     2    0         3         63
     July          0     1    0         1         58
     August        0     1    0         1         61
     September     0     0    0         0         59
     October       0     0    0         0         63
     November      0     0    0         0         62
     December      0     0    0         0         65

2001 January       0     0    0         0         61
     February      0     0    0         0         61
     March         0     0    0         0         63
     April         0     0    0         0         65
     May           1     1    0         2         64
     June          1     1    0         2         60
     July          0     0    0         0         58
     August        0     0    0         0         56
     September     0     0    0         0         54
     October       0     0    0         0         58
     November      0     0    0         0         59
     December      0     0    0         0         58

2002 January       1     1    0         2         54
     February      1     1    0         2         57
     March         1     1    0         2         54
     April         1     1    0         2         50
     May           1     1    0         2         51
     June          1     1    0         2         50
     July          1     1    0         2         52
     August        1     1    0         2         50
     September     1     1    0         2         56
     October       1     1    0         2         57
     November      1     1    0         2         50
     December      1     0    0         1         43

2003 January       0     0    0         0         40
     February      0     0    0         0         41
     March         1     1    0         2         41
     April         1     1    0         2         40
     May           1     1    0         2         38
     June          1     1    0         2         39
     July          1     1    0         2         41
     August        1     1    0         2         43
     September     0     0    0         0         39
     October       0     0    0         0         39
     November      0     0    0         0         38
     December      0     0    0         0         42

2004 January       0     0    0         0         43
     February      0     0    0         0         45
     March         0     0    0         0         45
     April         0     0    0         0         45
     May           0     0    0         0         44
     June          0     2    0         2         49
     July          0     2    0         2         48
     August        0     2    0         2         49
     September     0     2    0         2         48
     October       0     2    0         2         48
     November      0     2    0         2         49
     December      0     2    0         2         50

2005 January       0     2    0         2         52
     February      0     2    0         2         53
     March         0     0    0         0         51
     April         0     0    0         0         50

(a) Federal and State Jurisdiction waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

(b) All onshore.

(c) In two-dimensional (2D) reflection seismic surveying both the sound
source and the sound detectors (numbering up to a hundred or more per
shot) are moved along a straight line. The resultant product can be
thought of as a vertical sonic cross-section of the subsurface beneath
the survey line. It is constructed by summing many compressional
(pressure) wave reflections from the various sound source and sound
detector locations at the halfway sound path points beneath each
location (common depth point stacking). In three-dimensional (3D)
reflection seismic surveying the sound detectors (numbering up to a
thousand or more) are spread out over an area and the sound source is
moved from location to location through the area. The resultant product
can be thought of as a cube of common depth point stacked reflections.
Advantages over 2D include the additional dimension, the fact that many
more reflections are available for stacking at each point, which
provides greatly improved resolution of subsurface features, and
elimination of the "ghost" or "side swipe" reflections from nearby
offline features that 2D surveys are prone to (except, of course, along
the outer faces of the cube). Four dimensional (4D) reflection seismic
surveying is the exact repetition of a 3D survey at two or more time
intervals. The primary application of 4D is mapping the movement of
fluid interfaces in producing oil and gas reservoirs.

(d) Includes crews with unknown survey dimension.

Notes: * A "seismic crew" is a group of people, of varying number,
engaged in a seismic surveying job. * "48 States" is the United States
excluding Alaska and Hawaii. * Data are reported on the first and
fifteenth of each month, except January when they are reported only on
the fifteenth. When semi-monthly values differ for the month, the
larger of the two values is shown here. Consequently this table
reflects the maximum number of crews at work at any time during the
month.

Web Page: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/resource.html.

Source: World Geophysical News, IHS Energy Group, Denver, CO. used
with permission.

Figure 5.1 Crude Oil and Natural Gas Resource Developent Indicators

Active Well Service Rig Count

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Rotary Rigs in Operation

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Wells Drilles

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Footage Drilled

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Wells Drilles by Type

Thousand Wells

               April 2003    April 2004    April 2005

Crude Oil         0.6           0.6           0.6
Wells
Natural Gas       1.5           1.9           2.3
Wells
Dry               0.3           0.3           0.4
Wells

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Maximum U.S. Active Seismic Crew Counts

Number of Crews

                April 2003    April 2004    April 2005

48 States,          27            36            38
Onshore
48 States,          11             9            12
Offshore (a)
Alaska (b)           2             0             0

Note: Table made from bar graph.

(a) Federal and State Jurisdiction waters of Gulf of Mexico.

(b) All onshore.

Web Page: http://www.eia/doe.gov/emeu/mer/resourse.html.

Sources: Tables 5.1-5.3.