Natural gas well completions during the third quarter were down considerably from the same period a year ago, according to the American Petroleum Institute’s latest report on well completions, which was released Monday.

The report showed that 2,209 gas wells were completed during the quarter, a 35% decline from year-ago levels, while oil well completions rose by 18% to 8,580 during the third quarter.

“The oil and natural gas industry expanded oil drilling in the third quarter…thanks in large part to access on private and state lands,” said Hazem Arafa, director of API’s statistics department.

Overall, well completions — including oil and gas wells — maintained high levels from a year ago, with 12,291 wells completed during the third quarter, according to the API report.

Total exploratory well completions in the third quarter remained the same (700 wells), and total footage drilled rose 3% to 91,985,000 feet.

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