According to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), the state’s preliminary April crude oil production averaged 1.6 million b/d, up from nearly 1.2 million b/d in April 2012. The preliminary production figure for April is 48.2 million bbl, up from 35.9 million bbl in April 2012.

Texas oil and gas wells produced 538.6 Bcf of natural gas based upon preliminary figures for April, up from 505.8 Bcf a year ago. April gas production averaged 17.9 Bcf/d and came from 143,552 oil wells and 88,205 gas wells.

The RRC issued 1,931 original drilling permits in May compared to 2,530 in May 2012. The May total included 1,727 permits to drill new oil and gas wells, 33 to re-enter existing well bores, and 171 for recompletions. Permits issued in May included 582 oil, 123 gas, 1,145 oil and gas, 67 injection, four service and 10 “other” permits.

In May, operators reported 2,395 oil, 521 gas, 62 injection and 10 other completions compared to 887 oil, 336 gas, 32 injection and one other completion in May 2012. Total well completions for 2013 year to date are 10,437, up from 6,246 recorded during the same period in 2012. Operators reported 131 holes plugged and zero dry holes in May compared to 1,122 holes plugged and one dry hole in May 2012.

The top-10 oil-producing counties and their production in barrels were Karnes (3,820,561), Gonzales (2,635,422), La Salle (2,507,777), De Witt (2,266,256), Andrews (2,161,603), Ector (1,872,916), Gains (1,872,751), Upton (1,831,416), Yoakum (1,798,900), and Midland (1,746,944).

The top-10 gas-producing counties and their production in Mcf were Tarrant (56,759,254), Johnson (31,620,595), Panola (23,255,377), Webb (22,551,015), Pecos (18,892,068), Wise (18,454,508), Denton (15,991,799), Wheeler (15,527,021), Freestone (14,310,424), and De Witt (12,324,772).