Oklahoma and Louisiana contributed 3 additional rigs each to a gain of 8 drilling rigs in U.S. last week.   Baker Hughes said as of Sept. 13 there were 590 oil and natural gas rigs in U.S. (up 8 from 582 previous week, down 51 from 641 year ago).  Also, there were 306 rigs in Permian […]

Viper Energy, subsidiary of Midland-based Diamondback Energy, and operating subsidiary Viper Energy Partners said last week they are acquiring mineral- and royalty interest-owning subsidiaries of Tumbleweed Royalty IV for $461 million and 10.1 million units of Viper Energy Partners.  Closing is expected in 4Q. Viper also said it earlier closed two transactions of certain mineral- […]

The oil and natural gas industry has dominated Houston’s job market for decades, but Houston Chronicle reports the industry’s reign over Houston is “waning as the industry consolidates and slashes its spending.” Reuters said, “Houston is expected to take a significant hit as Shell moves to cut 20 percent of its global oil and gas […]

ExxonMobil leads in drilling rig count in both U.S. and Permian Basin, according to a report Tuesday from Enverus.  As of Sept. 6, Exxon operated 39 rigs across the U.S. followed by ConocoPhillips with 30, Occidental Petroleum with 25, EOG Resources and Mewbourne Oil each with 24, Devon Energy with 22, Continental Resources with 21 […]

Houston-based APA Corp. said Tuesday it agreed to divest certain non-core producing assets in Permian Basin to an undisclosed buyer for $950 million.  The properties in Central Basin platform, Texas and New Mexico shelf, and Northwest shelf represent current net production of about 21,000 boed (57 percent oil).  APA said proceeds will be used primarily […]

Railroad Commission of Texas said last week it plugged 1,012 orphan wells using state funds in fiscal year 2024 to surpass its goal of 1,000.  The commission said it exceeded its goal for the eighth straight year.  The state funds are collected from oil and gas industry revenue, including well plugging reimbursements, fees and bonds, […]

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will conduct a hearing Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Lawndale Community Center in Odessa on the proposed DeLa Express pipeline.  FERC is gathering public input and comments to prepare an environmental report for the proposed natural gas pipeline project.  FERC is required to seek and consider public comments in its decision-making […]

Permian Basin added a drilling rig last week for the second time in the past three weeks, according to the weekly report of Sept. 6 by Baker Hughes.  There were 306 rigs in Permian Basin (up 1 from 305 previous week, down 14 from 320 year ago).  Baker Hughes also reported 274 rigs in Texas […]

Railroad Commission of Texas is accepting public comments through Sept. 30 on its proposal to revise the agency’s rules regulating waste management facilities in the state. “This is the first overhaul of the RRC’s waste management rules in four decades,” the commission said. “The proposed rules factor safety and groundwater protection as well as technological […]

Calgary-based Enverus Intelligence Research said this week M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity in power and energy transition industries is ahead of the pace set in 2023. Enverus has tracked $79 billion in power asset and energy transition M&A through the first half of the year across 234 deals with a reported value ahead of 2023’s […]