Chief Drilling
Operator of record for 244 catalogued wells across 3 states. Every well below links to its full registry page.
Filed as: CHIEF DRILLING · Chief Drilling · Chief Drilling, Inc.
At a glance
Chief Drilling is the operator of record for 244 catalogued U.S. oil & gas wells in 3 states. 3 (1%) are active, 237 (97%) plugged & abandoned and 1 flagged as orphaned. Its largest concentration is in Kansas, with 238 wells (98% of its portfolio).
Wells operated
244
Active
3
Plugged
237
Orphaned
1
Portfolio by state
| State | Wells |
|---|---|
| Kansas | 238 |
| Montana | 4 |
| West Virginia | 2 |
Well mix
- Oil wells
- 49
- Gas wells
- 1
- Shut-in
- 0
- Active share
- 1%
Is this your company?
Claim Chief Drilling to keep this portfolio accurate — verified operators can correct well statuses and add plugging documentation.
Claim your operator profileWhere does Chief Drilling operate?
Chief Drilling's catalogued wells are spread across 3 states: Kansas (238), Montana (4) and West Virginia (2). Its 238 Kansas wells are 0.1% of the 473,140 catalogued in that state — its largest share of any state. Counts cover only states whose registries WellCensus has ingested with operator names; wells in Nebraska and Texas (location indexes) and in states without a registry ingest are not yet attributed to any operator.
How many of Chief Drilling’s wells are active, plugged or orphaned?
1% of Chief Drilling's catalogued wells are active, 28 percentage points below the national share of 29%. 97% are plugged & abandoned, against 47% nationally. 1 wells filed under this name are flagged as orphaned — unplugged, with no operator able to plug them.
What kinds of wells does Chief Drilling operate?
By product class, 49 (20%) are oil wells and 1 (0.4%) gas wells; nationally the shares are 43% and 17%. The deepest of its wells with a published depth is Hitch 2 in Seward, KS at 6,400 ft. The wells listed below sit in Seward (KS), Clark (KS), Scott (KS), Logan (KS) and Finney (KS). State filings spell the name 3 ways; WellCensus merges exact-normalized spellings only, so subsidiaries and affiliates keep their own pages.
Notable wells operated by Chief Drilling
| Well | API # / state ID | Status | Type | Location | Operator | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitch 2 | 15-175-20935 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Seward, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 6,400 ft |
| Van Blaricum 1 | 15-025-21035 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Clark, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 5,700 ft |
| Moore 1 | 15-171-20305 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Scott, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,997 ft |
| Pickett 1 | 15-171-20363 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Scott, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,959 ft |
| Emel 1 | 15-109-20265 | Plugged & abandoned | Oil | Logan, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,924 ft |
| Daniels 'A' 1 | 15-055-20927 | Plugged & abandoned | Oil | Finney, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,914 ft |
| Burtis 1-6 | 15-055-21011 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Finney, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,901 ft |
| Isaac Farms 29-1 | 15-055-21249 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Finney, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,900 ft |
| Wiley 1-9 | 15-055-21038 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Finney, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,880 ft |
| Haag 6-8 | 15-055-21112 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Finney, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,880 ft |
| Tarpley 'A' 1-32 | 15-055-21263 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Finney, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,860 ft |
| Rumford 1-10 | 15-055-21009 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Finney, KS | Chief Drilling, Inc. | 4,834 ft |
Deepest first where depth is published. See all 244 wells →
Frequently asked questions
How many wells does Chief Drilling operate?
Chief Drilling is the operator of record for 244 catalogued oil & gas wells, with the largest concentration in Kansas (238). Only wells in states WellCensus has ingested are counted.
How many of Chief Drilling's wells are still active?
3 of Chief Drilling's catalogued wells are active; 237 are plugged & abandoned and 1 are flagged as orphaned.
In which states does Chief Drilling operate wells?
Chief Drilling is the operator of record for wells in Kansas (238), Montana (4) and West Virginia (2).
Does Chief Drilling operate mostly oil or gas wells?
49 of Chief Drilling's catalogued wells are oil wells and 1 are gas wells; the rest are injection, service or unclassified wells.
What is Chief Drilling's deepest well?
Among wells with a published depth, Hitch 2 in Seward, KS is the deepest at 6,400 ft.
Where Chief Drilling's wells are
About this data
Source: State oil & gas regulator registries (operator of record as filed, exact-normalized across states) plus the USGS United States Documented Orphaned Well Database (2026), as published October 10, 2026 — WellCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: WellCensus, “Chief Drilling — well portfolio”, https://wellcensus.com/operators/chief-drilling-78310 (data as of October 10, 2026).
Dataset updated . Operator portfolios are resolved from raw state registry filings (exact-normalized names; subsidiaries stay separate).