Onshore crude oil production in U.S. lower 48 states has more than tripled since January 2010, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration, driven by growth in tight oil production in Permian Basin.  Onshore production includes both legacy oil production primarily from vertically drilled wells and newer tight oil production primarily from horizontally drilled wells. EIA […]

Chris Wright, U.S. energy secretary, said last week the U.S. Department of Energy is cancelling 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations totaling more than $3.7 billion in taxpayer-funded financial assistance.  Sixteen of the 24 awards were signed between election day Nov. 5, 2024, and inauguration day, Jan. 20, 2025.  The awards, […]

Midland-based Viper Energy, subsidiary of Diamondback Energy, said Tuesday it agreed to acquire Sitio Royalties in an all-equity transaction valued at $4.1 billion.  The agreement, which includes Sitio’s $1.1 billion of debt, is expected to close in 2025Q3.  Diamondback will own 41 percent of Viper’s outstanding common stock after closing.” “This combination creates a leader […]

Counts of active drilling rigs in Permian Basin and U.S. by Baker Hughes continue sinking to low counts last reported in November 2021.  In the weekly report of May 30, there were 278 rigs in Permian Basin (down 1 from 279 one week earlier, down 32 from 310 a year earlier) and 563 in U.S. […]

Midland-based ProPetro Holding Corp. recently said its ProPwr division secured its first contract to commit 80 megawatts of power generation for an exploration and production operator in Permian Basin.  ProPetro said May 20 that asset deployment is scheduled to begin in 2025 third quarter and continue through 2026.  ProPwr will deliver turnkey power to a […]

Dallas-based Matador Resources and affiliate San Mateo Midstream last week announced startup of an expansion of San Mateo’s Marlan cryogenic natural gas processing plant in Delaware Basin.  The expansion adds 200 million cfd of natural gas capacity to the plant in Eddy County, N.M., to bring total capacity to 260 million cfd. Joseph Wm. Foran, […]

Houston-based Chevron Corp., in a report to the Texas Workforce Commission May 16, said it plans to reduce its workforce on its campus in Midland this year by about 200 employees.  Catie Matthews of Chevron told Midland Reporter Telegram, “Chevron aims to place as many employees as possible in other roles and is offering severance […]

Oil majors ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum are the top operators in Permian Basin, according to a report May 27 from Enverus.  The report said as of May 23 the latest weekly averages of active drilling rigs were 35.0 for ExxonMobil and 22.1 for Occidental.  Other leading operators in Permian are Mewbourne Oil with 15.9, EOG […]

Denver-based Civitas Resources said recently it is maintaining its full-year production while reducing 2025 capital spending by about 8 percent.  Civitas said May 8 that production guidelines this year remain at 330,000 boed and 152,500 barrels per day of crude oil.  First quarter production was 311,000 boed (down 14 percent from 4Q) and 141,000 b/d […]

Officials from Texas Department of Public Safety told the Houston Chronicle there has been a surge in activity in oilfield theft the past two years in Permian Basin. The increased incidents of oilfield theft attracted the attention of lawmakers in Texas and Washington who are considering whether to increase funding for law enforcement and to […]