Texas saw a spike in new drilling permits for the first quarter, according to data provided by the Texas Railroad Commission.

Related: Webb County: Natural Gas King of Texas

During the first quarter of 2017, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) reported issuing  3257 new drilling permits, more than double the number of this time last year.  

During the same time, total completions for the quarter were down over 40 percent and producers discovered eight new fields. 

March 2017

The RRC issued a total of 1,310 new oil and gas drilling permits for March, a huge jump from the 511 issued in March 2016. 146 of the new well permits went to producers in district one, where the Eagle Ford Shale is located. The majority of the permits went to the Permian. Other March stats include:  

• New oil permits: 284
• New gas permits: 56
• New Oil & Gas permits: 893
• Total completions: 712  

The Eagle Ford Shale leads Texas in natural gas production. For full year 2016, the state's regulatory agency reported total gas production at 7,969,918,341 (mcf). This figure is broken down by region to include:

• Eagle Ford Shale: 5357 (MMcf) 
• Permian Basin: 5193 (MMcf)
• Barnett Shale: 3775 (MMcf)
• Haynesville : 887 (MMcf)