1883 
2800 
Wells 
$3 000,000 
1903 
EN 
O00 O00 18400 
1023 
$515,704.000 24.438 
§515,704.000 IS EXPENDED ANNUALLY IN OIL WELL 
DRILI.ING OPERATIONS 
In one year, 1928, the petroleum industry completed in the United States 24,438 wells at 
an estimated cost of 515,704,000. 
Oil wells today are drilled to an average depth of 8,000 feet. The ordinary well costs the 
oil operator conservatively $25,000 to drill. Six years ago drilling for oil as deep as 3,000 feet 
was a rarity and was considered an expensive and hazardous adventure, 
Today the drill pipe and the bit are penetrating the earth 5,000 feet as a common oeccur- 
rence. The cost of drilling these deep wells runs from $50.000 to $125,000 each. 
Twenty years ago oil was struck at an average depth of 1,500 feet and the average cost 
of drilling a well was $2,500. Forty years ago a well could be drilled for a few hundred dollars, 
the cost rarely exceeding $1.000.—0il & Gas Journal