News from the Oklahoma Corporation
Commission
Phone: (405)
521-4180, FAX: (405) 522-1623, m.skinner@occmail.occ.state.ok.us
OIL AND GAS PRICES, DRILLING PERMITS UP SHARPLY IN OKLAHOMA, BUT
PRODUCTION LAGS
(Oklahoma
City) With prices up sharply, interest in exploring for oil and natural gas in
Oklahoma has risen to a level not seen in many years. However the latest
Commission report on production of oil and natural gas in Oklahoma shows
production lagging behind the same time period a year ago.
Approved
intent-to-drill applications posted a sharp increase for January-November of
this year, as compared to the same time period a year ago. For the
January-November 2003 period, approved intent-to-drill applications totaled
4,727, a jump of 998 from the same
period in 2002. Further, it appears 2003 will end with the total number of
approved intent-to-drill applications at a (at least) 15-year high.
However,
the latest Commission report on production in Oklahoma shows that in August
2003 oil production totaled 4,946,685 barrels, a decrease of 551,511 barrels
from the July (revised) production of 5,498,196 barrels. Oklahoma oil production for the January –
August 2003 time period was below the (revised) total posted for the same time
period last year (43,352,302 barrels
versus the revised Jan-Aug 2002 total of 44,769,679 barrels).
August
2003 gas production totaled 117,289,250 mcf (thousand cubic feet). While that
is an increase of 2,092,507 mcf from the
July 2003 (revised) production
total of 115,196,743 mcf (thousand
cubic feet), it is still 77,525,896 mcf below the (revised) total posted for
the same time period last year (970,396,186 mcf versus the revised Jan-Aug 2002
total of 1,047,922,082 mcf).
The
average price for Oklahoma oil for January-August 2003 was $30.43 a barrel,
compared to $18.21 a barrel for the same time period in 2002.
The
average price for Oklahoma gas for January-August 2003 was $4.42 mcf, compared to $2.65 mcf for the same time period in
2002.
-OCC-
All OCC
advisories and releases are available at www.occ.state.ok.us
**Please Note: All numbers
are subject to change, and should be used for trend purposes only.