The state of US oil & gas drilling right now — permits, DUC inventory, recent spuds, new producers, and the most active operators across the 7 top mineral states, rolled up from state regulator records and refreshed monthly. Free to cite, quote, and embed with attribution.
Data as of · CC BY 4.0As of June 14, 2026, the 7 top US mineral states tracked here show 4,646 drilling permits filed over the trailing 24 months, 1,994 drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) wells in inventory, 1,408 wells spudded in the last 90 days, and 1,578 wells brought onto first production in the last six months, across 596 producing counties — compiled from state regulator records by Buckhead Energy.
| State | Permits 24mo | DUCs | Spuds 90d | New Producers | Counties | Most Active Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 2,812 | 941 | 673 | 813 | 268 | Oxy |
| New Mexico | 1,301 | 370 | 265 | 472 | 30 | Hilcorp Energy Company |
| North Dakota | 253 | 203 | 131 | 71 | 42 | Continental Resources |
| Oklahoma | 168 | 188 | 138 | 62 | 77 | Citation Oil & Gas |
| Wyoming | 74 | 171 | 114 | 43 | 23 | Eog Resources |
| Kansas | 22 | 75 | 63 | 0 | 105 | Scout Energy Management |
| Colorado | 16 | 46 | 24 | 117 | 51 | Noble Energy |
Ranked by trailing-24-month permits. Each state links to its full monthly drilling activity report.
Every state in the index has a full monthly report, a live snapshot dashboard, and an operator leaderboard:
A dated, first-party national rollup of oil and gas drilling activity across the 7 top US mineral states — Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas. It aggregates permits, drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) inventory, recent spuds, newly producing wells, and the most active operators from each state's regulator records, refreshed monthly.
As of June 14, 2026, the tracked states show 4,646 drilling permits over the trailing 24 months, 1,994 DUC wells in inventory, and 1,578 wells brought onto first production in the last six months.
Each state's figures are compiled from that state's oil & gas regulator well-header and permit filings — Texas Railroad Commission, Oklahoma Corporation Commission, New Mexico Oil Conservation Division, North Dakota Industrial Commission, Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission, Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, and Kansas Corporation Commission — aggregated by Buckhead Energy and refreshed monthly.
Yes. The index and its underlying datasets are published under CC BY 4.0 — free to quote, cite, and embed with attribution to Buckhead Energy. Per-state breakdowns and extracts are available on request at [email protected].
By trailing-24-month permits, Texas leads the tracked states with 2,812 permits, followed by New Mexico. See the table for the full ranking, each linking to that state's monthly report.
Buckhead Energy, "US Mineral & Drilling Activity Index," compiled from state oil & gas regulator records (TX RRC, OK OCC, NM OCD, ND NDIC, CO ECMC, WY WOGCC, KS KCC), June 14, 2026. https://www.buckheadenergy.com/us-drilling-activity-index
Journalists and researchers: national + per-state figures and extracts are available on request — [email protected].