Table 4.6  Crude Oil and Natural Gas Exploratory Wells, 1949-2007
Year	Wells Drilled								Successful Wells		Footage Drilled 1								Average Depth
	Crude Oil 2		Natural Gas 3		Dry Holes 4		Total				Crude Oil 2		Natural Gas 3		Dry Holes 4		Total		Crude Oil 2		Natural Gas 3		Dry Holes 4		Total
	Number								Percent		Thousand Feet								Feet per Well
1949	1,406		424		7,228		9,058		20.2		5,950		2,409		26,439		34,798		4,232		5,682		3,658		3,842
1950	1,583		431		8,292		10,306		19.5		6,862		2,356		30,957		40,175		4,335		5,466		3,733		3,898
1951	1,763		454		9,539		11,756		18.9		8,125		2,496		38,723		49,344		4,609		5,497		4,059		4,197
1952	1,776		559		10,090		12,425		18.8		8,491		3,394		43,731		55,615		4,781		6,071		4,334		4,476
1953	1,981		699		10,633		13,313		20.1		9,432		3,952		47,280		60,664		4,761		5,654		4,447		4,557
1954	1,985		726		10,389		13,100		20.7		9,409		4,399		45,792		59,601		4,740		6,059		4,408		4,550
1955	2,236		874		11,832		14,942		20.8		10,774		5,212		53,220		69,206		4,819		5,964		4,498		4,632
1956	2,267		822		13,118		16,207		19.1		11,111		5,179		58,047		74,337		4,901		6,301		4,425		4,587
1957	1,945		865		11,904		14,714		19.1		9,794		5,967		53,420		69,181		5,036		6,898		4,488		4,702
1958	1,745		822		10,632		13,199		19.4		8,712		5,472		47,300		61,484		4,993		6,657		4,449		4,658
1959	1,702		912		10,577		13,191		19.8		8,545		6,031		48,676		63,253		5,021		6,613		4,602		4,795
1960	1,321		868		9,515		11,704		18.7		6,829		5,466		43,535		55,831		5,170		6,298		4,575		4,770
1961	1,157		813		9,022		10,992		17.9		5,900		5,250		43,293		54,442		5,099		6,457		4,799		4,953
1962	1,211		771		8,815		10,797		18.4		6,205		5,187		42,223		53,616		5,124		6,728		4,790		4,966
1963	1,314		664		8,686		10,664		18.5		6,409		4,230		42,847		53,485		4,878		6,370		4,933		5,016
1964	1,219		557		8,951		10,727		16.6		6,715		4,204		44,578		55,497		5,509		7,547		4,980		5,174
1965	946		515		8,005		9,466		15.4		5,366		3,757		40,081		49,204		5,672		7,295		5,007		5,198
1966	1,196		698		8,419		10,313		18.4		6,817		5,808		43,084		55,709		5,700		8,321		5,117		5,402
1967	986		532		7,360		8,878		17.1		5,678		3,979		38,182		47,839		5,758		7,478		5,188		5,388
1968	954		486		7,439		8,879		16.2		5,642		3,741		41,575		50,958		5,914		7,697		5,589		5,739
1969	1,084		616		8,001		9,701		17.5		6,563		4,985		45,918		57,466		6,054		8,092		5,739		5,924
1970	757		477		6,162		7,396		16.7		4,729		3,678		35,123		43,530		6,247		7,695		5,700		5,885
1971	659		470		5,952		7,081		15.9		3,786		3,610		34,499		41,895		5,745		7,649		5,796		5,915
1972	685		656		6,134		7,475		17.9		4,028		4,847		36,081		44,956		5,880		7,400		5,882		6,015
1973	642		1,067		5,952		7,661		22.3		4,008		7,038		34,571		45,618		6,243		6,596		5,808		5,955
1974	859		1,190		6,833		8,882		23.1		5,029		7,683		38,603		51,315		5,855		6,456		5,649		5,777
1975	982		1,248		7,129		9,359		23.8		5,806		8,422		40,448		54,677		5,913		6,748		5,674		5,842
1976	1,086		1,346		6,772		9,204		26.4		6,527		9,121		37,969		53,617		6,010		6,777		5,607		5,825
1977	1,164		1,548		7,283		9,995		27.1		6,870		10,255		40,823		57,949		5,902		6,625		5,605		5,798
1978	1,171		1,771		7,965		10,907		27.0		7,105		11,798		46,295		65,197		6,067		6,662		5,812		5,978
1979	1,321		1,907		7,437		10,665		30.3		7,941		12,643		42,512		63,096		6,011		6,630		5,716		5,916
1980	1,777		2,099		9,081		12,957		29.9		10,177		13,862		50,249		74,288		5,727		6,604		5,533		5,733
1981	2,651		2,522		12,400		17,573		29.4		15,515		17,079		69,214		101,808		5,853		6,772		5,582		5,793
1982	2,437		2,133		11,307		15,877		28.8		13,413		14,763		60,680		88,856		5,504		6,921		5,367		5,597
1983	2,030		1,605		10,206		13,841		26.3		10,437		10,264		48,989		69,690		5,141		6,395		4,800		5,035
1984	2,209		1,528		11,321		15,058		24.8		12,294		9,935		58,624		80,853		5,565		6,502		5,178		5,369
1985	1,680		1,200		8,954		11,834		24.3		9,854		8,144		47,604		65,602		5,865		6,787		5,317		5,544
1986	1,084		797		5,567		7,448		25.3		6,579		5,401		30,325		42,305		6,069		6,777		5,447		5,680
1987	926		756		5,052		6,734		25.0		5,652		5,064		26,746		37,462		6,104		6,698		5,294		5,563
1988	855		747		4,711		6,313		25.4		5,286		4,992		27,079		37,357		6,182		6,683		5,748		5,917
1989	607		706		3,934		5,247		25.0		3,659		4,664		21,947		30,270		6,028		6,606		5,579		5,769
1990	664		693		3,793		5,150		26.3		4,420		4,774		21,777		30,971		6,657		6,889		5,741		6,014
1991	601		544		3,390		4,535		25.2		3,865		3,712		19,330		26,907		6,431		6,824		5,702		5,933
1992	498		427		2,550		3,475		26.6		3,236		2,749		13,983		19,968		6,498		6,438		5,484		5,746
1993	509		541		2,509		3,559		29.5		3,235		3,277		14,504		21,016		6,356		6,057		5,781		5,905
1994	579		740		2,465		3,784		34.9		3,708		4,720		14,632		23,060		6,404		6,378		5,936		6,094
1995	549		583		2,279		3,411		33.2		3,601		3,713		13,545		20,859		6,559		6,369		5,943		6,115
1996	496		591		2,246		3,333		32.6		3,615		3,938		13,805		21,358		7,288		6,663		6,146		6,408
1997	434		543		2,178		3,155		31.0		3,446		3,981		14,105		21,532		7,940		7,331		6,476		6,825
1998	286		510		1,649		2,445		32.6		2,351		3,629		11,062		17,042		8,220		7,116		6,708		6,970
1999	156		519		1,167		1,842		36.6		1,081		3,300		7,648		12,029		6,929		6,358		6,554		6,530
2000	267		615		1,349		2,231		39.5		1,945		4,488		9,024		15,457		7,285		7,298		6,689		6,928
2001	330		972		1,716		3,018		43.1		2,423		6,954		11,165		20,542		7,342		7,154		6,506		6,806
2002	236		701		1,283		2,220		42.2		1,609		5,042		8,559		15,210		6,818		7,193		6,671		6,851
2003	321		853		1,266		2,440		48.1		2,280		5,920		8,291		16,491		7,103		6,940		6,549		6,759
2004E	368	[R]	1,323	[R]	1,200	[R]	2,891	[R]	58.5	[R]	2,957	[R]	8,036	[R]	8,134	[R]	19,127	[R]	8,036	[R]	6,074	[R]	6,778	[R]	6,616	[R]
2005E	448	[R]	1,532	[R]	1,358	[R]	3,338	[R]	59.3	[R]	3,700	[R]	9,191	[R]	8,551	[R]	21,442	[R]	8,258	[R]	5,999	[R]	6,297	[R]	6,424	[R]
2006E	576		1,559		1,870		4,005		53.3		4,452		9,845		11,107		25,404		7,729		6,315		5,940		6,343
2007E	634		1,658		2,119		4,411		52.0		5,236		10,990		13,054		29,280		8,259		6,628		6,161		6,638
1See "Footage Drilled" in Glossary. R=Revised.  E=Estimate.  2See "Crude Oil Well" in Glossary. Notes:  ·  Data are for exploratory wells only; see Table 4.5 for exploratory and development wells combined, and Table 4.7 for development wells only.  ·  For 1949-1959, data represent wells completed in a given year.  For 1960-1969, data are for well completion reports received by the American Petroleum Institute (API) during the reporting year.  For 1970 forward, the data represent wells completed in a given year.  The as-received well completion data for recent years are incomplete due to delays in the reporting of wells drilled.  The Energy Information Administration (EIA) therefore statistically imputes the missing data.  ·  Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding.  Average depth may not equal average of components due to independent rounding. 3See "Natural Gas Well" in Glossary. Web Page:  See http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/petroleum.html for related information. 4See "Dry Hole" in Glossary. Sources:  ·  1949-1960—American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Statistics on Exploratory Drilling in the United States, 1940 through 1960 (1962), pp. 4-19.  ·  1961-1965—Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, "North American Developments" issue.  ·  1966-1969—API, Quarterly Review of Drilling Statistics for the United States, annual summaries and monthly reports. ·  1970-1994—EIA computations based on well reports submitted to the API.  ·  1995 forward—EIA computations based on well reports submitted to the Information Handling Services Energy Group, Inc.  For current data see the EIA, Monthly Energy Review, Table 5.2.