Counts of active oil and gas drilling rigs increased for the seventh straight week in Permian Basin and ninth straight week in Texas, according to the March 12 report from Baker Hughes. Permian Basin has 212 rigs (211 previous week), and Texas has 203 (202 previous week). Also, there are 60 rigs in New Mexico […]

Reuters reported last week that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, first-term Democrat from New Mexico, will seek a waiver for her state from the Biden administration’s pause on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands. Grisham told the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce March 10 that she was “clearly concerned” about the policy. Reuters said […]

Biden administration said Tuesday it will issue an interim report by early summer on its suspension of oil and gas sales from federal lands. The ban on lease sales from the nation’s publicly-owned oil and gas reserves to address climate change fulfills a campaign pledge of newly-elected president Joe Biden. “The federal oil and gas […]

In its quarterly report, Houston-based Occidental Petroleum said last month it plans to allocate $2.9 billion for its capital budget for 2021 to sustain its oil and gas production at 2020Q4 levels through the end of this year. Oil and gas production is expected to decline to 1.14 million barrels (53 percent oil) per day […]

Climate change had been a subject at CERAWeek for years, but at last week’s virtual conference energy transition dominated many of the sessions of the annual event by IHS Markit. The 2021 event attracted a record 19,000 delegates with a theme of “The New Map: Energy, Environment and Charting the Future” recognizing the industry’s acceleration […]

Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association said last week in Austin it will integrate Texans for Natural Gas into its education and advocacy programs. TIPRO said the combined organization will create “the most comprehensive statewide oil and natural gas campaign in Texas comprised of data, analysis, grassroots engagement and rapid response capabilities designed to […]

Count of active oil and gas drilling rigs in Texas climbed above 200 last week for the first time since May, according to Baker Hughes. The Houston-based services firm said as of March 5 there were 211 rigs in Permian Basin (208 previous week), 202 rigs in Texas (197 previous week), 61 rigs in New […]

State-controlled Ecopetrol of Bogota, Colombia, announced last month an aggressive development program in 2021 for its Midland Basin joint venture with Occidental Petroleum. Ecopetrol said Feb. 24 it plans to triple its investment in Permian Basin in 2021 to $600 million ($193 million last year), increase production to as much as 14,000 b/d (from a […]

Houston-based Select Energy Services, water management provider, said last month it will begin operations by the end of 2021Q1 on two water reuse and recycling projects serving customers in Midland and Delaware basins. John Schmitz, president and CEO, said Select will “partner with two leading E&P companies in the Permian Basin to provide full life-cycle […]

Jennifer M. Granholm, professor at University of California-Berkeley and former governor of Michigan, was confirmed as secretary of energy in the administration of new President Joe Biden. She was sworn in Feb. 25 after being approved by the Senate with a vote of 64-35. Granholm was the first female attorney general of Michigan in 1998-2002 […]