Drilling Permits Issued for
Development and Exploratory Wells in
Nebraska
The number of permits for development and exploratory wells includes both crude oil wells and natural gas wells. In 2010, the number of development permits issued nearly doubled and the number of exploratory permits issued more than doubled with the rise of the crude oil price.
In 2009, the number of permits issued fell to levels which hadn't been seen since 2004. This was a drop in both permit categories of nearly 80 percent from 2008. An increasingly favorable economic environment in 2008, which included high crude oil prices, had driven up the number of drilling permits issued. Drilling permits issued for exploratory wells nearly doubled in 2008 from 2007 whereas drilling permits issued for development wells increased 13 percent. Development well permits had tripled in 2007 from 2006. The number of both types of permits peaked in 1981 with development well permits reaching 374 and exploratory well permits reaching 354.
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual Total1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Development | |||||||||||||
| 1975 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 160 |
| 1976 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 144 |
| 1977 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 13 | 19 | 14 | 18 | 237 |
| 1978 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 23 | 17 | 24 | 11 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 21 | 168 |
| 1979 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 27 | 14 | 20 | 17 | 20 | 16 | 18 | 26 | 33 | 255 |
| 1980 | 21 | 27 | 25 | 30 | 28 | 32 | 23 | 16 | 22 | 32 | 30 | 27 | 311 |
| 1981 | 27 | 29 | 22 | 56 | 40 | 30 | 44 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 32 | 374 |
| 1982 | 23 | 15 | 17 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 22 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 22 | 191 |
| 1983 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 22 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 185 |
| 1984 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 22 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 24 | 12 | 170 |
| 1985 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 142 |
| 1986 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 50 |
| 1987 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 92 |
| 1988 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 67 |
| 1989 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 47 |
| 1990 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 67 |
| 1991 | 16 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 84 |
| 1992 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 52 |
| 1993 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 69 |
| 1994 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 30 |
| 1995 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 28 |
| 1996 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 39 |
| 1997 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 67 |
| 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 2000 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 27 |
| 2001 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 2003 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 25 |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 132 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 42 |
| 2005 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 54 |
| 2006 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 48 |
| 2007 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 22 | 43 | 7 | 15 | 21 | 7 | 146 |
| 2008 | 2 | 5 | 24 | 24 | 15 | 32 | 15 | 4 | 26 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 165 |
| 2009 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 42 |
| 2010 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 73 |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 8 | NA |
| 2012 | 4 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual Total1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exploratory | |||||||||||||
| 1975 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 212 |
| 1976 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 202 |
| 1977 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 27 | 32 | 17 | 40 | 267 |
| 1978 | 26 | 20 | 21 | 29 | 21 | 20 | 24 | 30 | 31 | 22 | 20 | 23 | 275 |
| 1979 | 35 | 0 | 20 | 25 | 20 | 18 | 36 | 20 | 24 | 38 | 37 | 30 | 320 |
| 1980 | 45 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 27 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 34 | 41 | 34 | 24 | 309 |
| 1981 | 27 | 22 | 16 | 23 | 15 | 50 | 27 | 39 | 23 | 34 | 41 | 37 | 354 |
| 1982 | 26 | 22 | 27 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 27 | 47 | 261 |
| 1983 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 19 | 16 | 35 | 19 | 18 | 26 | 216 |
| 1984 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 25 | 26 | 31 | 31 | 26 | 235 |
| 1985 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 22 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 18 | 176 |
| 1986 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 92 |
| 1987 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 123 |
| 1988 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 81 |
| 1989 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 61 |
| 1990 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 73 |
| 1991 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 56 |
| 1992 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 58 |
| 1993 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 54 |
| 1994 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 36 |
| 1995 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 24 |
| 1996 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| 1997 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 34 |
| 1998 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 2000 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 21 |
| 2001 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| 2002 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 2003 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 35 |
| 2005 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 43 |
| 2006 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 76 |
| 2007 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 88 |
| 2008 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 19 | 27 | 19 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 162 |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 35 |
| 2010 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 77 |
| 2011 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 18 | NA |
| 2012 | 2 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Sources: "Nebraska Oil Activity Summary." Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Sidney, NE. Nebraska Energy Office, Lincoln, NE.
Notes: NA = Not Available. Monthly numbers are not available before September, 1977. Numbers in red have been revised.
1The annual total is compiled after corrections and updates have been made which are not reflected in the monthly reports, so the annual total will not always equal the total of the monthly numbers.
2Kinder Morgan received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for ten (10) permits which will allow drilling ten development wells into their gas storage units to improve deliverability.
The tables were updated on August 3, 2012.
Typically, there are two months between updates.
The graph was updated on December 9, 2011.
Typically, there is one year between updates.