U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service extended the public comment period for its consideration of listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species to Oct. 2, 2023, from Sept. 1, 2023, to allow 90 days of comments.  Permian Basin Petroleum Association had requested the extension to allow the association additional time to develop its response.

According to a report from Texas Oil and Gas Association, 99 percent of oil and natural gas royalties paid by Texas companies last year went to the state’s permanent school fund and permanent university fund – both support public education in Texas.  About $2.1 billion was contributed to the two funds – bringing the total […]

U.S. exported more liquefied natural gas than any other country in the first half 2023, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration.  According to data from International Association for Natural Gas, LNG exports from U.S. averaged 11.6 billion cubic feet per day in first half of 2023 – 4.0 percent more than in first half 2022.  […]

Midland’s Diamondback Energy said Monday it formed a joint venture with Houston-based Five Point Energy to create the largest independent water infrastructure platform in Midland Basin.  Deep Blue Midland Basin, with headquarters in Midland and Houston, is an integrated midstream water infrastructure network with 800 miles of pipelines for gathering, transport, disposal and reuse.  Deep […]

Midland-based Permian Resources said recently it increased its daily drilled footage by 13 percent in 2023Q2 from 2022Q3 (the quarter during which it started).  It attributed the improvement to “high-grading its drilling fleet and optimizing drilling practices such as reducing flat time through bottom-hole assemblies.”  Permian Resources, which started from a merger of Centennial Resource […]

Last week Texas added oil and gas drilling rigs for the first time since May, and the U.S. rig count reversed an eight-week decline, according to the latest weekly report by Houston-based services firm Baker Hughes.  As of Sept. 8 there were 320 active rigs in Permian Basin (up 1 in past week, down 20 […]

Houston-based Peak 10 Energy said recently it launched as an oil and gas investment platform to acquire oil and gas assets in continental U.S.  Initial assets consist of non-operated oil and gas properties in Andrews, Dawson, Fisher, Gaines, Reeves and Scurry counties in west Texas, including more than 100 producing wells and a multi-year drilling […]

Texas Oil and Gas Association recently said that oil production in the state reached a record of 5.5 million barrels per day in June and July.  That follows reports of 5.4 million b/d of oil production in Texas for March, April and May (5.494 million b/d) by U.S. Energy Information Administration.  TXOGA said natural gas […]

Occidental Petroleum subsidiary 1PointFive said recently it agreed to acquire all outstanding equity of Carbon Engineering for about $1.1 billion cash (in three annual payments).  The deal provides 1PointFive “the opportunity to rapidly advance DAC (direct air capture) technology breakthroughs and accelerate deployment of DAC as a large-scale, cost effective, global carbon removal solution.”  Carbon […]

Employment and wages in the oil and natural gas industry in Texas grew significantly through 2023Q1, according to an economic analysis by Dr. Dean Foreman, chief economist for Texas Oil and Gas Association. Dr. Foreman said data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Texas Workforce Commission show that direct employment in Texas’ oil and natural […]