The number of original drilling permits issued in Texas during November declined from one year ago, as did the amount of natural gas produced from Texas wells during October compared to a year ago, according to Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) figures.

The commission issued 1,586 original drilling permits in November compared to 1,878 in November 2011. The November total included 1,416 permits to drill new oil and gas wells, 33 to re-enter existing well bores, and 137 for recompletions. Permits issued in November 2012 included 446 oil, 127 gas, 941 oil and gas, 57 injection, two service and 13 other.

In November, operators reported 1,486 oil, 279 gas, 41 injection and three other completions compared to 674 oil, 305 gas, 45 injection and one other completion in November 2011. Total well completions for 2012 year to date are 13,997, up from 7,924 during the same period in 2011.

Texas oil and gas wells produced 528,495,674 Mcf of gas based upon preliminary production figures for October, down from the October 2011 preliminary gas production total of 530,931,972 Mcf. Texas preliminary October total gas production averaged 17,048,247 Mcf/d. Production in October came from 132,073 oil wells and 84,302 gas wells.

The state’s average rig count as of December was 847, representing about 49% of all active land rigs in the United States. In the last 12 months, total Texas reported production was 510 million bbl of oil and 7.2 Tcf of natural gas, according to the RRC.

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