Twelve Most Actively Fractured Counties in United States

April 2024

During 2016-2023 time frame approximately 41,700 wells were fractured in the key 12 counties out of the total fractured 101,800 wells across the United States. The Permian Basin covers more than 75,000 square miles and extends across 52 counties in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. The graph below demonstrates well count of the fractured completions per year for each county. The Delaware Basin includes significant development in the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp formations, together known as the Wolfbone. The Midland Basin includes significant development in the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations, together known as the Wolfberry. The Permian Basin accounts for nearly 40 percent of all oil production in the United States and nearly 15 percent of its natural gas production, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Production History from 2018 Wells from Key Counties

The data collected from the wells that commenced production in the most active regions in 2018 reveals that a considerable proportion of them have already accumulated a substantial amount of oil. Specifically, the findings indicate that between 50-79 percent of the wells in 10 counties, depending on the county location, have accumulated over 250,000 barrels of oil, while 11-31 percent have accumulated 450,000 barrels of oil in 10 counties. The results suggest that the modern completion technologies employed in drilling these wells and selection of the better productivity target zones have been effective in optimizing their production, especially in Permian and Eagle Ford plays.

Production History of 2022-2023 Wells from Key Counties

The region of Lea County in New Mexico, along with Eddy, Midland, and Martin Counties in Texas, emerged as the most actively drilled areas in the United States. Recent data indicates a significant increase in the number of wells drilled in these regions, with the sample of wells coming on production between 1/2022 and 12/2023. The data highlights the growing importance of the oil and gas industry in these regions and the potential for new opportunities in the future.

Well Productivity from USA Producers Across Country

Data set above shows well count of wells grouped by year when they came online. It is interesting to see that from only 12 counties 66 percent of wells that started production during 2018 (noted by *** year on the graph) and 80 percent of wells that came online during 2020 (noted by ** year on the graph) accumulated more than 450,000 barrels of oil. Similarly, more than half of the 2018 and 2020 wells that accumulated more than 750,000 barrels of oil also came from these key counties. This information could be valuable for companies in the oil industry looking to optimize their operations. During the Covid pandemic in 2020, drilled locations were carefully high graded in every respect, including geological targeting, completion size, and well spacing, resulting in better initial productivity compared to the wells drilled in the previous and subsequent years.

Key Unconventional Plays in United States

The map below shows major developed and potential unconventional plays in USA. While Delaware and Midland Basins do not cover a large area, they are currently a major contributor to the total USA oil production. Thank you for considering Dynamic Reservoir Analytics for your unconventional formations engineering consulting needs.

Data Sources Disclaimer

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) - https://www.eia.gov

Welldatabase Production & Analytics Software - https://welldatabase.com

New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (OCD) - https://wwwapps.emnrd.nm.gov/OCD/OCDPermitting/Data/Wells.aspx

Frac Focus Chemical Disclosure Registry - https://www.fracfocus.org

Novii Labs - https://novilabs.com

S&P Global Commodity Insights - https://www.spglobal.com