Developments in Louisiana Gulf Coast in 1951

Drilling showed a 10.17 per cent decrease under 1950 with 1,007 wells being completed in 1951 as compared with 1,121 wells in 1950. Of the total wells drilled, 334 or 33.17 per cent were classified as exploratory and 673 or 66.83 per cent as field development wells. Successful completion rate of the exploratory wells was 36.53 per cent and of the development wells 75.18 per cent. There were 142 new-field wildcat tests drilled in 1951 which is a 3.52 per cent increase over last year. These new-field wildcats discovered 24 new fields, a success percentage of 16.9 per cent as compared with 13.9 per cent in 1950. Of the 24 new discoveries, 12 were oil, 10 gas condensate, and two gas. Ten of the discoveries were completed in the Miocene, 8 in the Oligocene, 4 in the Eocene, and one each in the Pliocene and Cretaceous. In 1951, there were 192 exploratory tests drilled on producing structures as compared with 135 similar tests in 1950. Of these, there were 90 new-pool wildcats drilled, of which 43 per cent were successful; 16 shallow pool tests, of which 87.5 per cent were successful; 45 deeper pool tests with 84.4 per cent successfully completed, and 41 outposts, of which 17.07 per cent were successfully completed. The most significant addition to reserves was the exploration on and around old producing areas. The Miocene trend contributed the greater part of new reserves. There were several dry exploratory tests which added knowledge of stratigraphy. Seismic activity increased considerably over 1950 with 924 crew months worked compared with 623 the previous year. Gravity meter also showed a marked increase with 166 crew months worked as compared with 90 last year. Production in 1951 reached an all-time high. There were 190,954,994 barrels of oil and condensate produced as compared with 167,427,924 last year. A total of 836,312,570 MCF of gas was produced as compared with 548,608,826 MCF in 1950. It is anticipated that geophysical work and leasing in 1952 will be comparable with that of 1951 and that drilling will show a slight increase.