Public record
This page uses U.S. Energy Information Administration, IRS, and SEC publications. It does not publish internal joint-venture statements, investor identities, or actual fund performance.
Public record
This page uses U.S. Energy Information Administration publications. It does not publish internal joint-venture statements, operator names from private programs, or well-level cash from any private offering.
EIA’s well-completion series for 1949–2010 recorded oil, gas, and dry outcomes and separated exploratory wells from development wells. Exploratory drilling carried the higher dry-hole rate. That record is context for why Congress allowed current deduction of intangible drilling costs. It is not a forecast for any current well.
EIA reports that horizontally drilled wells rose from 10 percent of U.S. producing wells in 2014 to 22 percent in 2024. Industry-wide dry-hole risk is not zero. The statutory IDC election is unchanged; the typical well geometry is not what it was when the election was first allowed.
Sources compiled for this briefing, September 2026. IRS publications may describe a particular return year; consult current filing instructions for an actual transaction.