Both oil and natural gas production in the Lone Star state climbed during June from year-ago levels, and the top producing counties remained the familiar Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale region names, according to Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) data.

Texas preliminary June crude oil production averaged 1.68 million b/d, up from the 1.28 million b/d average of June 2012. The preliminary crude production figure for June is 50.34 million bbl, up from 38.56 million bbl reported during June 2012.

Texas oil and gas wells produced 554.51 Bcf of natural gas based upon preliminary production figures for June, up from June 2012’s 524.43 Bcf. Preliminary June gas production averaged 18.48 Bcf/d. June production came from 153,601 oil wells and 91,203 gas wells.

The RRC’s estimated final production for June is 61.22 million bbl of crude oil and 550.78 Bcf of gas well gas. In May, Texas oil production grew while gas production trended downward (see Shale Daily, July 24).

Top oil-producing counties were Karnes, La Salle, Gonzales, Andrews, Gaines, Ector, Dimmit, De Witt, McMullen and Upton. The top gas-producing counties were Tarrant, Johnson, Webb, Panola, Wise, Denton, Wheeler, Freestone, De Witt and Dimmit.

The Texas average rig count as of Aug. 16 was 837, representing about 49% of all active land rigs in the United States. In the last 12 months, total Texas reported production was 583 million bbl of oil and 7.4 Tcf of natural gas.

Texas natural gas storage reported to the RRC for July was 386.69 Tcf compared to 387.61 Tcf in July 2012. The August 2013 gas storage estimate is 384.69 Tcf.

The RRC issued 1,843 original drilling permits in July, compared to 1,561 in July 2012. The July 2013 total included 1,673 permits to drill new oil and gas wells, 22 to re-enter existing wellbores, and 148 for recompletions. Permits issued included 557 oil, 143 gas, 1,069 oil and gas, 56 injection, one service and 17 other permits.

In July operators reported 1,860 oil, 470 gas, 49 injection and five other completions compared to 803 oil, 328 gas, 17 injection and zero other completions in July 2012. Total well completions for 2013 year-to-date is 15,124, up from 8,733 recorded during the same period in 2012.