A DUC — drilled but uncompleted — is a well that has been spudded but has not yet been completed or reported first production. For a mineral owner, a DUC on your tract usually means royalty income is coming but has not started.
Month-end count of wells spudded in the prior three years without reported first production. The latest months can revise as first-production reports arrive.
| Time since spud | Wells | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0–90 days | 165 | 17.6% |
| 91–180 days | 163 | 17.4% |
| 181–365 days | 225 | 24.1% |
| 1–2 years | 173 | 18.5% |
| 2–3 years | 209 | 22.4% |
Aging percentiles: 25th 124 days · median 267 · 75th 681 · 90th 959.
| County | DUCs | Median wait (days) |
|---|---|---|
| Grady | 102 | 216 |
| Canadian | 99 | 207 |
| Roger Mills | 97 | 132 |
| Custer | 74 | 193 |
| Blaine | 48 | 278 |
| Carter | 46 | 348 |
| Stephens | 38 | 576 |
| Garvin | 33 | 249 |
| Mc Clain | 32 | 408 |
| Pottawatomie | 25 | 480 |
| Kingfisher | 25 | 424 |
| Caddo | 25 | 215 |
| Creek | 24 | 564 |
| Pontotoc | 20 | 155 |
| Pittsburg | 17 | 564 |
| Major | 17 | 344 |
| Dewey | 17 | 393 |
| Ellis | 15 | 739 |
| Noble | 15 | 939 |
| Seminole | 15 | 232 |
| Payne | 13 | 200 |
| Lincoln | 12 | 423 |
| Tulsa | 12 | 927 |
| Oklahoma | 11 | 408 |
| Hughes | 10 | 358 |
| Operator | DUCs | Median wait (days) |
|---|---|---|
| Continental Resources | 76 | 210 |
| Mewbourne Oil Company | 61 | 132 |
| Validus Energy II Midcon LLC | 45 | 172 |
| Devon Energy Production Company | 40 | 244 |
| Fw Midcon I, LLC | 39 | 126 |
| Camino Natural Resources | 33 | 297 |
| Coterra Energy Inc | 25 | 277 |
| Unknown | 20 | 547 |
| Warwickjupiter LLC | 19 | 102 |
| Bcemach | 18 | 188 |
| Sanguine Gas Exploration | 17 | 214 |
| Citation Oil & Gas | 16 | 155 |
| Eckard Operating, LLC | 16 | 408 |
| Kolibri Energy Us, Inc | 15 | 347 |
| Charter Oak Production | 14 | 209 |
| Ovintiv Usa Inc | 13 | 249 |
| Bcemach III LLC | 12 | 101 |
| Citizen Energy Ventures LLC | 11 | 172 |
| Anthem Energy Operating Oklahoma LLC | 11 | 193 |
| Wfd Oil | 10 | 224 |
| Mack Energy Company | 10 | 986 |
| Calyx Energy III | 10 | 332 |
| Culbreath Oil & Gas | 9 | 227 |
| Sandridge Exploration & Production | 9 | 196 |
| Gulf Exploration | 9 | 805 |
| Basin / play | DUCs | Median wait (days) |
|---|---|---|
| Anadarko Basin | 538 | 214 |
| Chautauqua Platform | 199 | 480 |
| South Oklahoma Folded Belt | 139 | 403 |
| Arkoma Basin | 42 | 397 |
| Palo Duro Basin | 9 | 683 |
| Woodford | 4 | 1,002 |
| Ouachita Folded Belt | 3 | 89 |
Groups with fewer than three wells are not shown. Data as of 2026-10-06.
A drilled-uncompleted well, or DUC, has been spudded but has not yet been completed or reported first production. Operators hold DUCs as capacity they can bring online without drilling a new well.
Valor counts 935 Oklahoma wells spudded in the last three years with no reported first production; the median well has waited 267 days since spud.
A DUC on your tract usually means royalty income is coming but has not started. The aging profile on this page shows how long wells typically wait, which can help set expectations for first payment.
Wells with a spud date in the last three years and no first-production date, from public oil and gas data. Valor computes the count, aging percentiles and 24-month trend; recent months can revise as first-production reports arrive.
No. Valor publishes the backlog as statistics — totals, aging, and county, operator and formation groupings of three or more wells — rather than a list of individual wells.
These statistics are computed by Valor from public oil and gas data. © Valor, all rights reserved.