The copy that we received of the 1956 National Stripper Well Survey
exhibited printing problems; there was no ink on part of the sheet with the
columnar data. State names were missing from Arkansas through Nebraska and
part of New Mexico. This "wash" of missing ink clearly affected some digits
in the Number of Stripper Wells column.
The total given for the production was incorrect, and some of the numbers
given for number of wells and/or production were at variance from data for
1954 and 1956.
We have been able to obtain correct data in some cases. We have taken great
pains to contact each library that had or may have had a copy of the 1956
Survey, and in some cases paid more than $20 for the one page of data, in an
attempt to find a copy that not only was readable, but had more reasonable data.
We also have contacted the appropriate regulatory agencies for each state in an
effort to obtain data.
Detailed well-by-well data is available either from us or directly from the
sources below.
Data for North Dakota was generously provided by Jim Lindholm, Information
Technology Administrator, NDIC Department of Mineral Resources, 600 E
Boulevard Ave Dept 405, Bismarck ND 58505.
Data for Tennessee was generously provided by Ronald Zurawski, State
Geologist and Director, Tennessee Division of Geology.
A clean and fully readable copy of the Survey was generously provided by
the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, PO Box 53127, Oklahoma City OK
73152.
With apologies to the IOGCC, and to the users of this website, we decided to
use "corrected" data, and use this web page as a means of full disclosure.
Below is a complete representation of the data as found and of the
"corrected" data:
From National Stripper Well Surveys, 1955-1957
NUMBER OF STRIPPER WELLS PRODUCTION FROM STRIPPER WELLS (Bbls.)
1954 1955 1956 1954 1955 1956
AR 2,919 3,308 3,967 11,753,898 8,745,321 8,492,323
CA 12,836 17,354 20,496 48,343,000 49,143,000 56,363,000
CO 181 150 159 538,918 149,486? 407,396
IL 25,692 27,405 30,766 71,365,000 80,221,000 80,718,500
IN 4,504 3,878 4,250 10,510,381 8,838,783 11,351,195
KS 23,733 29,898 29,445 41,730,036 46,005,543 46,886,564
KY 16,233 18,030 14,166 4,500,000 7,000,000 13,389,200
LA 6,103 6,850 7,874 12,567,526 13,725,653 14,168,581
MI 4,169 3,258 3,474 12,043,558 11,265,091 10,739,586
MS 207 392? 228 583,885 1,436,703? 417,780
MO 120 129 129 96,021 72,280 65,212
MT 3,022 2,928 2,986 4,650,250 4,674,383 4,836,252
NE 71 55 55 211,439 240,166 235,348
NM 2,755 2,894 3,859 4,875,438 5,888,512 5,556,575
NY 24,200 24,570 23,500 3,274,000 2,888,162 2,686,637
ND 7 1? 12 14,845 785? 23,637
OH 14,613 14,819 14,057 3,887,000 1,387,000? 4,923,000
OK 54,200 56,797 58,136 83,726,134 98,563,034 82,168,579
PA 72,862 70,029 69,500 9,608,269 8,505,000 8,231,000
TN 36 45 37 12,800 12,747 8,675
TX 55,590 59,400 67,039 97,599,326 104,830,804 122,880,969
UT 13 16 17 7,996 10,626 15,285
VA 12 13 13 5,936 4,396 4,454
WV 12,864 12,805 12,773 2,900,000 2,318,000 2,200,000
WY 3,334 2,907 3,551 7,690,240 7,775,171 8,867,162
TOT 340,276 357,931 370,489 432,495,896 467,101,646? 485,636,910
Legend: ? Suspect (bad total)
"Corrected" 1955 data
NUMBER OF STRIPPER WELLS PRODUCTION FROM STRIPPER WELLS (Bbls.)
1954 1955 1956 1954 1955 1956
AR 2,919 3,308 3,967 11,753,898 8,745,321 8,492,323
CA 12,836 17,354 20,496 48,343,000 49,143,000 56,363,000
CO 181 150 159 538,918 149,486? 407,396
IL 25,692 27,405 30,766 71,365,000 80,221,000 80,718,500
IN 4,504 3,878 4,250 10,510,381 8,838,783 11,351,195
KS 23,733 29,898 29,445 41,730,036 46,005,543 46,886,564
KY 16,233 18,030 14,166 4,500,000 7,000,000 13,389,200
LA 6,103 6,850 7,874 12,567,526 13,725,653 14,168,581
MI 4,169 3,258 3,474 12,043,558 11,265,091 10,739,586
MS 207 392? 228 583,885 1,436,703? 417,780
MO 120 129 129 96,021 72,280 65,212
MT 3,022 2,928 2,986 4,650,250 4,674,383 4,836,252
NE 71 55 55 211,439 240,166 235,348
NM 2,755 2,894 3,859 4,875,438 5,888,512 5,556,575
NY 24,200 24,570 23,500 3,274,000 2,888,162 2,686,637
ND 7 11& 12 14,845 14,914& 23,637
OH 14,613 14,819 14,057 3,887,000 1,387,000? 4,923,000
OK 54,200 56,797 58,136 83,726,134 98,563,034 82,168,579
PA 72,862 70,029 69,500 9,608,269 8,505,000 8,231,000
TN 36 15& 37 12,800 8,514& 8,675
TX 55,590 59,400 67,039 97,599,326 104,830,804 122,880,969
UT 13 16 17 7,996 10,626 15,285
VA 12 13 13 5,936 4,396 4,454
WV 12,864 12,805 12,773 2,900,000 2,318,000 2,200,000
WY 3,334 2,907 3,551 7,690,240 7,775,171 8,867,162
TOT 340,276 357,931 370,489 432,495,896 463,711,542! 485,636,910
Legend: ? Suspect & Confirmed ! Mathematical total
(API gives 463,701,646 Bbls)