Oil Well Production

If you own mineral rights and receive oil royalties, then you are probably curious about the oil well production levels. In an oil and gas lease on your property, you may have one or more oil wells on the land that is being drilled by the oil company.

How Many Barrels of Oil Does a Well Produce?

With oil royalties, you can earn a direct percentage of the sale of oil barrels that are extracted and sold from producing oil wells. Although there are wells of all shapes in sizes across the globe, in the article, we are going to explore the national averages for daily, annual, and lifetime production from oil wells in the United States.

Average Daily Oil Well Production

In the early days of American oil exploration, flowing wells in modern Texas are rumored to have the capacity for up to 100,000 barrels per day. On the other hand, there are countless shallow wells across the country that have been dug to accommodate no more than a single barrel each day.

Today, most oil operations are performed by large companies working to produce as much as possible while the well is in use. When a large oil well begins producing, successful drills can expect a daily production of anywhere from 500 to 5,000 barrels per day.

Average Annual Oil Well Production

In order to calculate the average annual production of an oil well, let’s use some real numbers to provide a helpful figure. In 2014, Texas led the nation in producing 3.17 billion barrels per day. It also is the most heavily explored region in the world with an estimated 151,605 active oil wells. By this calculation, the average annual production of an oil well in Texas is roughly 21,000 barrels of oil per year.

Average Lifetime Oil Well Production

In general, an oil well is at its most productive during the initial exploration and drilling. After extended daily use and depending on environmental factors and chosen technologies, an oil well’s production will slowly decrease until the operation is deemed unprofitable. Oil wells typically last between 15 and 30 years. As an example, an oil well in the Bakken fields of the United States can produce roughly 540,000 barrels over the course of its lifetime.