Permian Basin is an important upstream growth target for Chevron and ExxonMobil, but independent operators are the dominant producers in the region, according to an analysis by Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The report released Nov. 15 said, “While ExxonMobil and Chevron have portrayed themselves as leaders in the Permian, the IEEFA analysis finds it unlikely that future operations from their current assets will propel either to top-producer status in the vast region that sprawls across Texas and New Mexico.”
Trey Cowan, IEEFA oil and gas analyst and Texas-licensed CPA, added, “Both Chevron and ExxonMobil see the Permian as the future of their domestic upstream growth, but the reality is that they are not likely to overtake independent producers at their current pace… ‘Big Oil’ would have to significantly increase their drilling and completion campaigns to rise to the activity pace that the leading independents have set.”
Pioneer Natural Resources surged to the rank of top Permian producer in 2021 after acquiring Parsley Energy and DoublePoint Energy to overtake Occidental Petroleum. And soon another independent, ConocoPhillips, could vie for the top Permian producer after its recent acquisition of Shell’s Permian assets is folded into its results.
IEEFA said 2021Q3 results included 676,000 boed for Pioneer, 623,000 boed for Chevron and 500,000 boed for ExxonMobil from Permian Basin, an area of more than 75,000 square miles in southwest Texas and southeast New Mexico.