Drilled but uncompleted wells on the rise, EIA reports

The number of drilled but uncompleted wells for oil and natural reached a high of 8,504 wells in February 2019, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR).

The most recent count, at 8,500 wells in March 2019, was 26 percent higher than the previous March.

Drilled but uncompleted wells, also known as DUCs, are oil and natural gas wells that have been drilled but have not yet undergone various well completion activities. The number of DUCs has continually increased since 2016. This trend may be attributable due to a variety of reasons, including a lack of available well completion crews to perform hydraulic fracture activities in areas of high demand.

The recent increases in the DUC wells are found primarily in the Permian region that spans western Texas and eastern New Mexico. As of March 2019, nearly half of the total DUCs were in the Permian region. In contrast, the number of DUC wells in the Appalachian and Haynesville regions have decreased by almost half over the past three years, from 1,230 wells in March 2016 to 713 wells in March 2019.

Production in the seven DPR regions totaled 8.2 million barrels per day of crude oil and 77.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in February 2019. That represents 70 percent of total U.S. crude oil production and 71 percent of total U.S. natural gas production.