The number of wells producing crude oil and natural gas in the United States declined in 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). © Shutterstock Oil and gas producing wells dropped from a peak of 1,039,000 in 2014 down to 991,000 in 2017. The decline can be primarily attributed to advances in technology and drilling techniques, EIA stated in its new report, U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Wells by Production Rate. Nonhorizontal wells, which include vertical wells, have decreased from 940,000 in 2014 to 864,000 in 2017. Horizontal wells are less common, but they are growing as a share of the total. Specifically, there were 99,000 horizontal wells drilled in 2014 – about 10 percent of the total. In 2017, there were 127,000 horizontal wells – which accounted for 13 percent of total wells drilled. Horizontal wells are more expensive to drill than vertical wells but produce […]