A couple of things come to mind as topics worth discussing this month. One is hiring foreign workers, and the other is the Presidential election. Starting with hiring foreign workers, I was initially grateful that what appeared to be well-educated migrants from Venezuela and Cuba had come to the Permian Basin to find jobs. There […]
Conventional Thinking, Efficiency Mindedness, Record-Breaking Outputs, and the “Value” of Political Prattle
Sentimental? No, not nearly. Exxon got the Pioneer deal done with the worst government requirements ever announced. It is now starting to reorganize its holdings. What that means is the legacy part of Pioneer, the conventional drilling that put them on the map appears to be going away. Exxon announced the pending sale of up […]
Carbon Capture as an Investment Play
In recent articles I discussed some bullish oil and gas investment ideas in the Permian. Energy though, as you well know, is in a massive transition period. Over the next decade, three things will happen that are not in much doubt anymore. U.S. onshore oil production in the Lower 48 will peak and […]
Life in the Merge Lane
The shale revolution of the previous decade began with mantras of “drill, baby, drill,” interspersed with “spend, baby, spend,” and “buy small, grow fast, sell big, make money!” That didn’t work, as the resulting river of shale oil flooded the market and crashed prices. Only a lucky few made big money on that plan. […]
Water and Its Ways
For decades oil and gas producers had a great luxury—they could cheaply dispose of produced water in saltwater disposal wells (SWDs) near the production wells. But the old saying about going to the well once too often is becoming more and more real in the SWD space, necessitating some big changes, with potentially much higher […]
Open Enrollment
It is time for many employers to begin open enrollment for their employees’ insurance and other benefits for the 2025 year. Are you ready? Have you met with your broker and rebid your current product offerings? Have you met with at least one other broker to see if your current broker continues to be […]
Permian People – October 2024
Hirings, promotions, and other personnel matters in the nation’s biggest oil patch, the Permian Basin—or in companies who do business here. U.S. Energy Development Corporation (U.S. Energy), an E&P with projects throughout North America, on Aug. 7 promoted of Mark Lillis to Director of Investor Relations, a move intended by management to “reinforce their core […]
A Delaware Deal, Dissected
Consolidation and asset rationalization continue to change the landscape in the Permian Basin. Among the winners is Permian Resources (PR), which just bought nearly 30k net acres in the Delaware Basin from Occidental Petroleum (OXY) for $817.5 million or just over $27k per acre. Occidental was looking to sell assets in order to pay down […]
Pressure Pumping Under Pressure, OFS Could Soften, EWTC’s Event, and BBQ Done Right
Red-Headed Stepchild Pressure pumping seems like constant football, getting kicked around, winning or losing. First, things go flat. The observation that we know how to manage spiking growth and plummeting drops, but not flat times, was made by many to me. Pricing gradually erodes. Now account for the consolidations we have seen in E&P and the slowdown […]
Oil’s Well that Ends Well
Most shale wells, regardless of lateral length, produce furiously for the first several months, then start a downward trajectory that’s accompanied by rising levels of gas and sand. This combination means that lift methods must also evolve along the well’s life. To make that happen, three Permian Basin lift companies are advancing some existing technologies. […]
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