Melanie Kenderdine, secretary of New Mexico’s Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Development, resigned Dec. 5, according to the capital bureau of the Albuquerque Journal.  She reportedly resigned for personal reasons as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham approaches her final year in office.  Grisham said, “Melanie brought national energy expertise to New Mexico, and I’m […]

Houston-based Chevron said last week Permian Basin accounted for 51 percent of its U.S. activity in 2025 and about one-third of its 2026 upstream budget of $17 billion will be directed to U.S. shale.  Mike Wirth, chairman and CEO, said Dec. 3, “Our 2026 capital program focuses on the highest return opportunities while maintaining discipline […]

Permian Basin accounted for most of the growth in production of associated natural gas in the U.S. in 2024, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration.  Production of associated natural gas in Permian Basin increased in 2024 by 8 percent to 12.5 Bcfd and accounted for 47 percent of Permian’s total natural gas production.  U.S. production […]

Only ExxonMobil and EOG Resources among the top 10 operators in the U.S. report more active drilling rigs now than one year ago.  Enverus said in its Drilldown Report of Dec. 2 that ExxonMobil continues to lead U.S. operators with 37 working rigs as of Nov. 28 with a weekly average of 36.3 rigs (35.3 […]

Oklahoma City-based Riley Exploration Permian said Thursday it sold its natural gas gathering infrastructure in New Mexico to Targa Northern Delaware for about $111 million cash.  The acquired asset, subsidiary Dovetail Midstream, consists of infrastructure serving producers in Eddy County in southeastern New Mexico in Permian Basin. The agreement also provides for the sale of […]

U.S. count of active drilling rigs fell decisively in the past week, according to Baker Hughes in its weekly report of Nov. 26 before Thanksgiving holidays.  There were 544 rigs in U.S. – down 10 from the previous week and down 38 or 6.5 percent from 582 a year ago.  The number of oil-directed rigs […]

Austin-based WhiteWater Midstream will expand capacity of its planned Eiger Express natural gas pipeline.  Having secured sufficient transportation agreements, WhiteWater said Nov. 24 it will expand capacity to 3.7 Bcfd (from 2.5 Bcfd) by increasing the pipeline from 42 inches to 48 inches and by adding incremental compression. Eiger Express will transport natural gas from […]

Houston-based Targa Resources said Monday a subsidiary will acquire Stakeholder Midstream for $1.25 billion cash.  San Antonio-based Stakeholder provides natural gas gathering, treating and processing services and crude oil gathering and storage services on 170,000 dedicated acres Permian Basin.  The assets include 480 miles of natural gas pipelines, 180 million cfd of cryogenic natural gas […]