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Report Reveals Scope of Oil and Natural Gas Drilling in U.S.
Employment Numbers on the Rise in Most States

Washington, D.C. (January 12, 2006) The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) has released the 74th edition of the 2004-2005 Oil & Gas Producing Industry In Your State, that is the only comprehensive study of the oil and natural gas industry in each of the 33 producing states.

"The 2003 average for employees involved in drilling oil and gas wells was 51,526 up from 48,596 in 2002 but down considerably from 62,012 drillers in 2001," said Frederick Lawrence, vice president of Economics & International Affairs, Independent Petroleum Association of America.

As energy demand increases and supplies tighten, energy production remains paramount as a leading solution to alleviating this country's supply and demand imbalance. This publication provides an in-depth look into the oil and natural gas production industry including statistics, state rankings, industry employment, prices, drilling and all information covering the upstream side of the industry.

"Independent oil and natural gas producers play a critical role in maintaining U.S. energy supply," said Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. "The nation's best insurance policy against higher prices is increased energy from domestic oil and gas production."

IPAA represents independent oil and natural gas producers and service companies, which drill 90 percent of wells in the United States, produce 82 percent of the country's natural gas, and produce 68 percent of the oil.

United States Oil and Natural Gas Production Highlights:

• 31,275 oil and natural gas wells drilled, up from 27,711 in 2002
• United States ranks 1st in both natural gas and crude oil wells drilled world-wide
• United States ranks 2nd and 3rd respectively in both natural gas and crude oil production world-wide
• Texas, Federal Offshore (i.e. Gulf of Mexico), New Mexico rank the highest in natural gas production domestically
• Federal Offshore (i.e. Gulf of Mexico), Texas, Alaska rank the highest in crude oil production domestically
• Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania rank the highest in natural gas wells drilled domestically
• Texas, California, Oklahoma rank the highest in crude oil wells drilled domestically
• 1,561,400 people are employed by the petroleum industry
• $5,372,380,000 severance taxes paid and $5,353,954,610 in federal royalties.
• $9.52/Mcf is the average natural gas price for residential consumers

For more information on statistics and state rankings, please visit http://www.ipaa.org/reports/econreports/IPAAOPI.pdf for the complete report or request a hard copy via mail by contacting Gideon Lett at 202-857-4722 or glett@ipaa.org.

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IPAA is the national trade association representing oil and natural gas producers that drill 90 percent of the nation's oil and natural gas wells. These companies account for 68 percent of America's oil production and 82 percent of its natural gas production.