Houston-based services firm Baker Hughes said in its first weekly report of 2023 that the count of U.S. active drilling rigs declined by the biggest margin in 15 months.  The U.S. count fell by 7 rigs to 772 as of Jan. 6 in the previous week.  Also, there were 353 rigs in Permian Basin (unchanged […]

Don L. Sparks of Midland, founder and chairman of the board for Discovery Operating, will receive the 2022 Top Hand award from Permian Basin Petroleum Association Jan. 18 at Petroleum Club of Midland.  After beginning his career with Shell, Sparks founded Discovery in 1973.  He is a Navy veteran and graduate of University of Texas […]

Christi Craddick, chair of the Railroad Commission of Texas, said Jan. 6 that the commission will not accept $300 million in federal funding to plug abandoned wells until it learns conditions of the funding.  “We’re going to wait to see what their rules are before we decide,” she said in Houston at a meeting of […]

Houston-based Targa Resources said this week it completed the previously announced acquisition of the 25 percent interest in Grand Prix NGL pipeline held by Blackstone Energy Partners for $1.05 billion cash.  Targa said Monday it now owns 100 percent of Grand Prix, which transports up to 1 million b/d of NGLs to Mont Belvieu.  The […]

Irving-based Pioneer Natural Resources lowered its long-term forecast for production in the Permian Basin, according to a report by Bloomberg.  Scott D. Sheffield, president and CEO, said Jan. 5 at a conference in Miami that Pioneer now forecasts about 7 million barrels a day by 2030 – down from a previous estimate of 8 million […]

Moriarty, N.M.-based Sceye said it is testing a helium airship to detect and measure oilfield emissions in a partnership with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico’s departments of environment and economic development.  The airship hovers 65,000 feet above earth equipped with spectral imagers and laser sensors that Sceye said can scan emissions within a […]

Houston-based ConocoPhillips reported last week increased production in 2022Q1 as it continues to integrate and optimize recently acquired Permian Basin assets.  The record production of 1,747,000 boed (220,000 above 2021Q1) in Q1 included 967,000 boed in lower 48 and 640,000 boed in Permian Basin.  Q2 production is expected to be 1.67 to 1.73 million boed, […]

For the first time since March 2020, Baker Hughes reported a count of active oil and gas drilling rigs of at least 700 in U.S.  As of May 6, there were 335 rigs in Permian Basin (unchanged in past week, up 106 in past year), 344 in Texas (down 1 in past week, up 127 […]

Owners of Whistler pipeline said last week it will be expanded through the installation of three compressor stations.  The new stations will increase mainline capacity from 2.0 billion cfd to about 2.5 billion cfd and be in service by September 2023.  Whistler is owned by a consortium of MPLX, WhiteWater, and a joint venture of […]

The Woodlands-based Ring Energy said April 26 that 2022Q1 production averaged 8,870 boed (85 percent oil) – above high end of guidance of 8,500 to 8,700 boed in Permian Basin of west Texas and east New Mexico.  Ring’s one-rig program started in late January and drilled 6 wells (4 on Central Basin Platform and 2 […]