Who Pays the Most to Drill a Well? Seven Years of Peer Group Cost Trends

Average drilling and completion cost per well has followed very different paths depending on who is doing the drilling. Some groups have held flat for seven years. Others have climbed steadily.

We grouped Lower-48 market spend by operator peer group (majors, large caps, mid caps, small caps, micro caps, PE-backed and non-PE-backed private operators) and tracked average total D&C cost per well by vintage year from 2020 through 2026. The picture that comes out is not one market moving together. It is several markets moving at different speeds.

Large Caps Have Barely Moved

Large cap operators have averaged between roughly $7.6MM and $7.9MM per well in every vintage since 2020. Through an inflation cycle, a service cost spike and a supply chain squeeze, their average drilling and completion cost per well stayed inside a band of about $300,000. That kind of stability usually comes from scale: long-term service contracts, repeatable well designs and the purchasing power to hold pricing when the market tightens.

Majors and Mid Caps Are Climbing

Majors have moved up steadily, from about $7.2MM in 2021 to around $8.0MM in 2026 vintages, edging past large caps for the first time. Mid caps show the biggest increase of any group, rising from about $7.4MM in 2020 to roughly $8.8MM in 2026. Higher average cost does not automatically mean worse execution. Longer laterals and heavier completions push the per-well number up while often improving well drilling cost per foot and productivity. But a climb this consistent in drilling and completion cost per well is worth understanding.

The Smallest Operators Pay the Most

Micro-cap operators carry the highest average D&C cost in every year they appear, holding around $9.0MM to $9.3MM per well since 2022. Smaller programs mean less leverage with service providers, fewer chances to refine a well design and less ability to keep crews and rigs on continuous work.

At the other end, PE-backed operators and small caps have consistently posted the lowest averages, mostly between $6.2MM and $7.0MM. These are often operators with tight capital mandates and simpler development plans, and their numbers reflect that discipline. PE-backed operator drilling costs often emphasize standardized designs and tight cycle times, which can reduce oil drilling costs and improve well drilling cost per foot.

What the Averages Don’t Tell You

These are per-well averages, not per-foot. Basin mix, lateral length and completion design all sit behind each bar. A peer group trend shows you where to look. Matching your own wells to truly comparable wells in the same interval, depth and lateral length is what tells you whether your D&C cost per well by operator is competitive and whether your oil drilling costs are moving in line with peers.

Where Do You Sit?

• Is our drilling and completion cost per well tracking our peer group, or drifting away from it?

• Are we competing for services against groups that pay more, or less, than we do?

• Is our increase coming from design choices we made, or pricing we accepted?

The groups with the flattest cost lines over the past seven years did not get there by accident. They knew where the market was, and they managed to it—often by targeting lower well drilling cost per foot while holding productivity.

See Your Peer Group, Then Go Deeper

Enverus benchmarks D&C cost by peer group, basin, interval and vintage using actual transaction data, so you can see the trend, compare D&C cost per well by operator, and then match it to the wells that matter for your program. Reach out to learn more about how PE-backed operator drilling costs, geology and design choices shape your drilling and completion cost per well.

Answers to Key Cost Questions

What factors determine drilling and completion cost per well?

The biggest drivers are depth and geology, lateral length, rig and frac crew rates, sand and water logistics, well design (casing, stage count, proppant loading), pad size, and operational efficiency. Market conditions, supply chain tightness and D&C cost per well by operator practices also matter. PE-backed operator drilling costs can differ due to procurement discipline and standardized designs.

How much does drilling and completion cost per well on average?

In our 2020–2026 Lower-48 dataset, peer group averages range roughly from the mid-$6MMs to the low-$9MMs per well. Large caps have stayed near $7.6–$7.9MM, majors moved toward ~$8.0MM, and micro caps often exceed $9.0MM. These averages reflect both oil drilling costs and completion intensity choices.

What is the difference between drilling cost and completion cost per well?

Drilling cost covers planning, rig time, bits, mud, casing, directional services and reaching total depth. Completion cost covers stimulation and bringing the well online (perforating, frac pumping, sand, water, flowback, facilities tie-in). The split can vary with geology and design, but completion often rivals or exceeds drilling in modern horizontals, shifting both the drilling and completion cost per well and the realized well drilling cost per foot.

How do well depth and geology affect drilling and completion cost per well?

Deeper, higher-pressure or more complex geology increases rig time, materials and risk, lifting drilling cost and oil drilling costs overall. Tight rock may require higher stage counts and proppant loading, raising completion cost. Softer formations can drill faster and cheaper per foot, improving well drilling cost per foot and lowering total drilling and completion cost per well.

What are typical drilling and completion cost per well for vertical wells?

Vertical wells generally run materially lower than horizontal wells due to shorter footage and simpler completions. In many onshore basins, vertical drilling and completion cost per well can be a fraction of horizontal costs, though local service pricing and geology still govern oil drilling costs and the resulting well drilling cost per foot.