Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield told Reuters last week in Houston he expects oil prices to range from $80 to $100 a barrel this year and in 2024 as demand outpaces supply along with production cuts from Saudi Arabia and underinvestment by U.S. producers.  The outlook is lower than the $90 to $100 forecast […]

New Mexico added 2 drilling rigs in the past week to match its 2023 high with 113 rigs, but rig counts in Permian Basin, Texas and U.S. continued to decline.  Baker Hughes said as of Aug. 4 there were 314 rigs in Texas (down 8 in past week, down 59 in past year), 329 in […]

Viper Energy Partners, subsidiary of Midland-based Diamondback Energy, said last week its production reached a company record in 2023Q2.  Production was 21,143 barrels of oil per day (37,681 boed) – an increase of 5.1 percent from Q1 and 7.0 percent from 2022Q2.  Viper said 285 total gross horizontal wells (5.9 net 100 percent royalty interest) […]

Houston-based ConocoPhillips said last week its lower 48 delivered record production of 1.063 million boed in 2023Q2, including 709,000 boed from Permian Basin and 235,000 boed from Eagle Ford in south Texas.  Company production for 2Q was 1,805,000 boed – an increase of 113,000 boed from 2022Q2.  Third quarter production is forecast at 1.78 million […]

Irving-based Pioneer Natural Resources last week raised its 2023 production guidance after reporting second quarter production topped forecasts.  Pioneer averaged 711,000 boed in 2Q to top midpoint of guidance from April by about 3 percent.  Oil production averaged 369,000 b/d compared to forecast midpoint of 364,500 b/d.  CEO Scott Sheffield said Pioneer lowered its fullyear […]

University of Texas Permian Basin received a grant of $1 million from National Science Foundation for research and to support implementation of technologies in Permian Basin.  The grant was issued to UTPB’s Texas Water and Energy Institute and College of Engineering for research and development on water and energy technologies, carbon and materials management, renewable […]

Spring, Texas-based ExxonMobil said last week it expects to deliver about 600,000 boed in 2023 and reach about one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2027.  Exxon said Friday production in Permian Basin (620,000 boed) and Guyana in 2023Q2 was up 20 percent over last year. Darren Woods, chairman and CEO, said of […]

Midland-based Diamondback Energy said Monday it averaged 263,100 barrels per day of oil production in 2023Q2, which is an increase of 19 percent from 2022Q2.  And daily combined volumes grew 18 percent to 449,900 boed.  Diamondback drilled 86 wells in Midland Basin and 12 in Delaware Basin (gross operated) in 2Q and increased fullyear guidance […]

Findlay, Ohio-based MPLX said this week construction is underway in Delaware Basin on its sixth natural gas processing plant.  Preakness II with capacity of 200 million cfd is expected online in firsthalf 2024.  MPLX also is planning to build Secretariat with 200 million cfd, its seventh processing plant in Delaware Basin.  Startup is expected in […]

Texas Workforce Commission said recently the state continues to lead the nation in job growth.  In June more than 30,000 non-farm jobs were added, bringing the total to a record of nearly 14 million jobs in the state.  It was the 28th consecutive month of job growth.  Since June 2022 Texas has added more than […]