The drilling bust: Pennsylvania spuds down 88% from 2008, and only New Mexico is back
Published 2026-11-07 · By Pushbuild · Data: Oil & Gas Wells API: US, Canada, UK, Norway, Brazil, Australia
Wells spudded (drilling started) in 2025 against each state's peak year: Pennsylvania down 88%, Kansas 84%, Colorado 84%, North Dakota 67%. New Mexico's 1,995 spuds in 2025 are its most since 2006. California recorded 42.
| State | Peak year | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 vs peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PA | 2008: 4,981 | 473 | 577 | -88% |
| KS | 2012: 5,957 | 1,492 | 933 | -84% |
| CO | 2008: 4,356 | 657 | 707 | -84% |
| ND | 2014: 2,667 | 971 | 877 | -67% |
| CA | 2014: 3,836 | 336 | 42 | -99% |
| NM | 2006: 2,065 | 1,945 | 1,995 | -3% |
Caveats
Only states that publish spud dates are included; Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio and others do not. Wyoming's public layer stops in July 2022. 2026 is not complete. California's low count is what its WellSTAR records hold. The CSV has every state by year from 2000.
Sources
- Railroad Commission of Texas, read through the Pushbuild Oil & Gas Wells API on 2026-11-07
Data as of 2026-11-07. Every figure in this post is in the table above and the CSV below.
Download the data behind this post: liquor-wells-spuds-by-year.csv
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