Chevron Dry Holes Rate Almost Doubles Amid Shift to Americas

Chevron Corp.’s exploration failure rate almost doubled last year as the second-largest U.S. energy producer shifted more drilling efforts to American fields from other parts of the world.

Dry holes, or exploratory wells where commercially viable quantities of oil or natural gas weren’t found, represented 30 percent of the total drilled last year, up from 18 percent in 2013, the company said Friday in a public filing. Chevron plans to quit searching Romania’s shale fields this year after abandoning Polish and Ukrainian prospects in 2014.