## Independent Statistics & Analysis



# Drilling Productivity Report

The six regions analyzed in this report accounted for nearly 90% of domestic oil production

growth and virtually all domestic natural gas production growth during 2011

- 12. 

# October 2013

For key tight oil and shale gas regions 

# U.S. Energy Information

Administration

Contents

Year

- over

- year summary 2

Bakken 3

Eagle Ford 4

Haynesville 5

Marcellus 6

Niobrara 7

Permian 8



# Explanatory notes 9

Sources 10 Bakken

Marcellus

Niobrara



### Haynesville

Eagle Ford PermianU. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report

0 400 800 1,200 1,600 2,000

Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian

November

- 2012 November

- 2013 Oil production

thousand barrels/day

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000

Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian November

- 2012 November

- 2013 Natural gas production

million cubic feet/day 0 250 500 750 1,000

Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian November

- 2012 November

- 2013 New

- well oil production per rig

barrels/day

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian

November

- 2012 November

- 2013 New

- well gas production per rig

thousand cubic feet/day

(450) (400) (350) (300) (250) (200) (150) (100) (50) 0 Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian

November

- 2012 November

- 2013 Legacy gas production change

million cubic feet/day

(70) (60) (50) (40) (30) (20) (10) 0 Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian

November

- 2012 November

- 2013 Legacy oil production change

thousand barrels/day drilling data through September

projected production through November 

# October 2013

Drilling Productivity Report 

# Year

- over

- year summary

- 20 - 10 0 10 20 30 40

Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian November

- 2012 November

- 2013 thousand barrels/day Indicated monthly change in oil production (Nov vs. Oct)

- 300 - 200 - 100 0 100 200 300 400 500

Bakken Eagle Ford Haynesville Marcellus Niobrara Permian November

- 2012 November

- 2013 million cubic feet/day Indicated monthly change in gas production (Nov vs. Oct)

2U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report

0 200 400 600 800 1,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Oil production

thousand barrels/day 

### Bakken 0 50 100

Oct

935

Mbbl/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

961

Mbbl/d thousand barrels/day 

### Bakken



# +86

- 60 

# +26 Indicated change in oil production (Nov vs. Oct)

0 50 100

Oct

1,067

MMcf/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

1,096

MMcf/d 

### Indicated change in natural gas production (Nov vs. Oct)

million cubic feet /day 

### Bakken



# +83



# - 54 +29 0 50 100 150 200 250

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well oil production per rig

rig count New

- well oil production per rig

barrels/day 

### Bakken

Rig count

rigs

(70) (60) (50) (40) (30) (20) (10) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy oil production change

thousand barrels/day 

### Bakken

(60) (50) (40) (30) (20) (10) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy gas production change

million cubic feet /day 

### Bakken

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Bakken

Natural gas production

million cubic feet /day 0 50 100 150 200 250

0 600 1,200 1,800 2,400 3,000 3,600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well gas production per rig

rig count New

- well gas production per rig

thousand cubic feet /day 

### Bakken

Rig count

rigs drilling data through September

projected production through November 

# October 2013

Drilling Productivity Report

Monthly

additions

from one

average rig November

barrels/day October

barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil

+23 Gas

thousand cubic feet/day

month over month 

# +18 

# Bakken

million cubic feet/day

month over month 

# 463

November

thousand cubic feet/day October 

# 445 482

459

thousand barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil +26 Gas +29

3U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Oil production

thousand barrels/day 

### Eagle Ford 0 50 100

Oct

1,069

Mbbl/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

1,093

Mbbl/d thousand barrels/day 

### Eagle Ford



# +105

- 81 

# +24 Indicated change in oil production (Nov vs. Oct)

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Oct

4,404

MMcf/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

4,532

MMcf/d 

### Indicated change in natural gas production (Nov vs. Oct)

million cubic feet /day 

### Eagle Ford



# +261



# - 133 +128 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well oil production per rig

rig count New

- well oil production per rig

barrels/day 

### Eagle Ford

Rig count

rigs

(90) (80) (70) (60) (50) (40) (30) (20) (10) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy oil production change

thousand barrels/day 

### Eagle Ford

(140) (120) (100) (80) (60) (40) (20) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy gas production change

million cubic feet /day 

### Eagle Ford

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Eagle Ford

Natural gas production

million cubic feet /day 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0 600 1,200 1,800 2,400 3,000 3,600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well gas production per rig

rig count New

- well gas production per rig

thousand cubic feet /day 

### Eagle Ford

Rig count

rigs drilling data through September

projected production through November 

# October 2013

Drilling Productivity Report

Monthly

additions

from one

average rig November

barrels/day October

barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil

+8 Gas

thousand cubic feet/day

month over month 

# +16 

# Eagle Ford

million cubic feet/day

month over month 

# 1,010

November

thousand cubic feet/day October 

# 994 404

396

thousand barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil +24 

# Gas +128

4U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report barrels/day

0 400 800 1,200 1,600 2,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Oil production

thousand barrels/day 

### Haynesville 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

Oct

61

Mbbl/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

62

Mbbl/d thousand barrels/day 

### Haynesville



# +2

- 1 

# +1 Indicated change in oil production (Nov vs. Oct)

- 150 - 50 50 150 250

Oct

6,721

MMcf/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

6,601

MMcf/d 

### Indicated change in natural gas production (Nov vs. Oct)

million cubic feet /day 

### Haynesville



# +228

- 348



# - 120 0 50 100 150 200 250 300

0 200 400 600 800 1,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well oil production per rig

rig count New

- well oil production per rig

barrels/day 

### Haynesville

Rig count

rigs

(3) (2) (1) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy oil production change

thousand barrels/day 

### Haynesville

(700) (600) (500) (400) (300) (200) (100) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy gas production change

million cubic feet /day 

### Haynesville

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Haynesville

Natural gas production

million cubic feet /day 0 50 100 150 200 250 300

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well gas production per rig

rig count New

- well gas production per rig

thousand cubic feet /day 

### Haynesville

Rig count

rigs drilling data through September

projected production through November 

# October 2013

Drilling Productivity Report

Monthly

additions

from one

average rig November

October

barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil

+1 Gas

thousand cubic feet/day

month over month 

# +35 

# Haynesville

million cubic feet/day

month over month 

# 5,018

November

thousand cubic feet/day October 

# 4,983 45

44

thousand barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil +1 Gas

- 120

5U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report 

# Marcellus

0 400 800 1,200 1,600 2,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Oil production

thousand barrels/day 

### Marcellus 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

Oct

48

Mbbl/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

51

Mbbl/d thousand barrels/day 

### Marcellus



# +4

- 1 

# +3 Indicated change in oil production (Nov vs. Oct)

0 200 400 600

Oct

12,237

MMcf/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

12,645

MMcf/d 

### Indicated change in natural gas production (Nov vs. Oct)

million cubic feet /day 

### Marcellus



# +579



# - 171 +408 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

0 200 400 600 800 1,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well oil production per rig

rig count New

- well oil production per rig

barrels/day 

### Marcellus

Rig count

rigs

(3) (2) (1) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy oil production change

thousand barrels/day 

### Marcellus

(200) (160) (120) (80) (40) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy gas production change

million cubic feet /day 

### Marcellus

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Marcellus

Natural gas production

million cubic feet /day 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

0 1,200 2,400 3,600 4,800 6,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well gas production per rig

rig count New

- well gas production per rig

thousand cubic feet /day 

### Marcellus

Rig count

rigs drilling data through September

projected production through November 

# October 2013

Drilling Productivity Report

Monthly

additions

from one

average rig November

barrels/day October

barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil

+2 Gas

thousand cubic feet/day

month over month 

# +160

million cubic feet/day

month over month 

# 5,980

November

thousand cubic feet/day October 

# 5,820 38

36

thousand barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil +3 Gas +408

6U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report 0 200 400 600 800 1,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Oil production

thousand barrels/day 

### Niobrara 0 10 20 30

Oct

260

Mbbl/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

267

Mbbl/d thousand barrels/day 

### Niobrara



# +30

- 23 

# +7 Indicated change in oil production (Nov vs. Oct)

- 100 - 50 0 50 100

Oct

4,610

MMcf/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

4,550

MMcf/d 

### Indicated change in natural gas production (Nov vs. Oct)

million cubic feet /day 

### Niobrara



# +94



# - 154

- 60 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well oil production per rig

rig count New

- well oil production per rig

barrels/day 

### Niobrara

Rig count

rigs

(25) (20) (15) (10) (5) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy oil production change

thousand barrels/day 

### Niobrara

(250) (200) (150) (100) (50) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy gas production change

million cubic feet /day 

### Niobrara

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Niobrara

Natural gas production

million cubic feet /day 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

0 600 1,200 1,800 2,400 3,000 3,600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013



### new

- well gas production per rig

rig count New

- well gas production per rig

thousand cubic feet /day 

### Niobrara

Rig count

rigs drilling data through September

projected production through November 

# October 2013

Drilling Productivity Report

Monthly

additions

from one

average rig November

barrels/day October

barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil

+7 Gas

thousand cubic feet/day

month over month 

# - 60 

# Niobrara

million cubic feet/day

month over month 

# 978

November

thousand cubic feet/day October 

# 1,038 312

305

thousand barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil +7 

# Gas

- 60

7U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Oil production

thousand barrels/day 

### Permian 0 10 20 30

Oct

1,292

Mbbl/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

1,292

Mbbl/d thousand barrels/day 

### Permian



# +35

- 34 

# +1 Indicated change in oil production (Nov vs. Oct)

0 20 40 60 80

Oct

4,735

MMcf/d Production

from

new wells Legacy

production

change Net

change Nov

4,739

MMcf/d 

### Indicated change in natural gas production (Nov vs. Oct)

million cubic feet /day 

### Permian



# +77



# - 74 +3 0 100 200 300 400 500 600

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well oil production per rig

rig count New

- well oil production per rig

barrels/day 

### Permian

Rig count

rigs

(40) (35) (30) (25) (20) (15) (10) (5) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy oil production change

thousand barrels/day 

### Permian

(140) (120) (100) (80) (60) (40) (20) 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Legacy gas production change

million cubic feet /day 

### Permian

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### Permian

Natural gas production

million cubic feet /day 0 100 200 300 400 500 600

0 600 1,200 1,800 2,400 3,000 3,600

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

### new

- well gas production per rig

rig count New

- well gas production per rig

thousand cubic feet /day 

### Permian

Rig count

rigs drilling data through September

projected production through November 

# October 2013

Drilling Productivity Report

Monthly

additions

from one

average rig November

barrels/day October

barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil

0 Gas

thousand cubic feet/day

month over month 

# +2 

# Permian

million cubic feet/day

month over month 

# 175

November

thousand cubic feet/day October 

# 173 79

79

thousand barrels /day

month over month 

# Oil +1 

# Gas +3

8U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report 

# October 2013



# Explanatory notes

Drilling Productivity Report

The Drilling Productivity Report uses recent data on the total number of drilling rigs in operation along

with estimates of drilling productivity and estimated changes in production from existing oil and natural

gas wells to provide estimated changes in oil and natural gas production for six key fields. EIA’s

approach does not distinguish between oil

- directed rigs and gas

- directed rigs because once a well is



# completed it may produce both oil and gas; more than half of the wells do that.

Monthly additions from one average rig

Monthly additions from one average rig represent EIA’s estimate of an average rig’s 1 

# contribution to

production of oil and natural gas from new wells. 2 

# The estimation of new

- well production per rig uses



# several months of recent historical data on total production from new wells for each field divided by the

region's monthly rig count, lagged by two months. 3 

# C urrent

- and next

- month values are listed on the top

header. The month

- over

- month change is listed alongside, with +/

- signs and color

- coded arrows to

highlight the growth or decline in oil (brown) or natural gas (blue).



# New

- well oil/gas production per rig

Charts present historical estimated monthly additions from one average rig coupled with the number of

total drilling rigs as reported by Baker Hughes.

Legacy oil and natural gas production change

Charts present EIA’s estimates of total oil and gas production changes from all the wells other than the



# new wells. The trend is dominated by the well depletion rates, but other circumstances can influence the

direction of the change. For example, well freeze

- offs or hurricanes can cause production to significantly

decline in any given month, resulting in a production increase the next month when production simply

returns to normal levels.

Projected change in monthly oil/gas production

Charts present the combined effects of new

- well production and changes to legacy production. Total

new

- well production is offset by the anticipated change in legacy production to derive the net change in

production. The estimated change in production does not reflect external circumstances that can affect

the actual rates, such as infrastructure constraints, bad weather, or shut

- ins based on environmental or

economic issues.

Oil/gas production

Charts present oil and natural gas production from both new and legacy wells since 2007. This

production is based on all wells reported to the state oil and gas agencies. Where state data are not

immediately available, EIA estimates the production based on estimated changes in new

- well oil/gas

production and the corresponding legacy change.

Footnotes:

1. The monthly average rig count used in this report is calculated from weekly data on total oil and gas rigs



## reported by Baker Hughes

2. A new well is defined as one that began producing for the first time in the previous month. Each well belongs to

the new

- well category for only one month. Reworked and recompleted wells are excluded from the calculation.

3. Rig count data lag production data because EIA has observed that the best predictor of the number of new

wells beginning production in a given month is the count of rigs in operation two months earlier.

9U. S. Energy Information Administration | Drilling Productivity Report 

# October 2013



# Sources

Drilling Productivity Report

The data used in the preparation of this report come from the following sources. EIA is solely

responsible for the analysis, calculations, and conclusions.

Drilling Info (http://www.drillinginfo.com) Source of production, permit, and spud data for counties

associated with this report. Source of real

- time rig location to estimate new wells spudded and completed



# throughout the United States.

Baker Hughes (http://www.bakerhughes.com) Source of rig and well counts by county, state, and basin.

North Dakota Oil and Gas Division (https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas) Source of well production, permit,



# and completion data in the counties associated with this report in North Dakota

Railroad Commission of Texas (http://www.rrc.state.tx.us) Source of well production, permit, and

completion data in the counties associated with this report in Texas

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection



# (https://www.paoilandgasreporting.state.pa.us/publicreports/Modules/Welcome/Welcome.aspx) Source

of well production, permit, and completion data in the counties associated with this report in

Pennsylvania

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (http://www.dep.wv.gov/oil

- and

gas/Pages/default.aspx) Source of well production, permit, and completion data in the counties

associated with this report in West Virginia

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (http://cogcc.state.co.us) Source of well production,

permit, and completion data in the counties associated with this report in Colorado



# Wyoming Oil and Conservation Commission (http://wogcc.state.wy.us ) Source of well production,

permit, and completion data in the counties associated with this report in Wyoming

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (http://dnr.louisiana.gov) Source of well production,

permit, and completion data in the counties associated with this report in Louisiana

10