Permittingfor new drilling in Texas jumped noticeably in June from the month before but remainednearly 200 below the same month in 2015, the state's oil and gas regulator saidin a monthly update.

The RailroadCommission of Texas said it issued 656 original drilling permits in June, up 50from May. It was still well below the 851 issued in June 2015, showing the depthof the permitting slide as a result of the oil and gas price collapse.

The Junetotal included 506 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, four to re-enter pluggedwell bores and 146 for re-completions of existing well bores. The permits issuedincluded 226 for oil-only drilling, 29 for gas-only drilling and 356 for oil andgas drilling.

Whilepermitting activity ticked up, well completions continued a downward trend. TheRailroad Commission said it processed 700 oil, 165 gas and 31 injection well completionsin June, down from 760 oil, 199 gas and 60 injection well completions in May. Itwas also far below June 2015's 1,416 oil, 225 gas and 64 injection wells. Totalwell completions to date are more than 5,000 below 2015's total, with 6,429 completedin 2016 compared to 11,542 completed in 2015.