Oil well drilling significantly outpaced natural gas activity in the third quarter, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported Wednesday. For every two oil wells that were completed during the period, only one gas well was completed.

The producer group estimated that 6,379 oil wells were completed during the third quarter, up by 16% from year-ago levels and more than double the number of natural gas wells that were completed (3,188) during the same period.

Oil well completions were down 3% from the 6,595 wells that were completed in the second quarter, while gas well completions fell 8% from the 3,477 completed wells in the second quarter (see Daily GPI, July 19).

The API reported that a total of 10,574 wells — oil, gas and 1,007 dry holes — were completed in the third quarter. Estimated drilling footage was 77 million feet, a 6% rise from the year-ago level, the producer group said. It further reported that a total of 31,620 wells have been completed so far this year.

“This trend we’ve seen for increased domestic drilling this year continued into the third quarter. The report helps explain why the oil and natural gas industry is adding to its workforce even while job creation has stalled elsewhere in the economy,” said Hazem Arafa, director of API’s statistics department.

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