November 15, 2024

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This chart shows the Cost per Well (in Million$ USD) across different oil basins and plays over the period Q1 2022 thought Q3 2024.

The well cost includes drilling and completion (fracking, casing, cementing, etc.) costs, but does not include cost of land and tie in costs. Well cost is used to calculate Finding and Development (F&D) cost. In many cases, low well cost does not translate to lower F&D cost, as lower cost wells can also be less productive (i.e. Canadian conventional plays). At the same time, well costs in US Tight oil plays can be more expensive because of depth, length of lateral and significant number of stages. But these wells are usually more productive. Producers constantly seek to reduce well costs as it is one of the major factors contributing to reduction of full cycle cost.

  • Powder River has the highest cost per well, exceeding USD $12M/well. Permian Delaware, Permian Midland, Eagle Ford have costs between USD $9M to $10M/well.
  • Uinta, Williston, and Anadarko range around USD $8M to $9M/well. Denver Julesburg and California show slightly lower costs, approximately USD $3M to $6.5M/well.
  • Montney Oil and Duvernay are in the USD $5M to $8.5M/well range. Permian Central, AB West Central, and SK Oil fall between USD $3M to $4M/well.
  • AB Central and Alberta South show the lowest costs, around USD $2M/well and lower.