Midland-based Diamondback Energy said last week it forecasts 2026 crude oil production guidance of 500,000-to-510,000 barrels per day and 926,000-to-962,000 boed. That follows 4Q production of 512,800 b/d of oil and 969,100 boed and fullyear 2025 production of 497,200 b/d of oil and 921,000 boed. Fullyear cash capital expenditures for 2026 are forecast at $3.6 billion to $3.9 billion after $3.5 billion in fullyear 2025.
In a letter to stockholders Feb. 23, Kaes Van’t Hof, CEO, said after doubling the size of the company in 2024 with the acquisition of Endeavor “in 2025 we converted that step change in scale into exceptional excellence… Our operational teams broke multiple records and delivered significant improvements in speed, consistency and capital efficiency. We drilled longer wells faster and cheaper than ever before… These efficiency gains should be seen as permanent.”
In 2025 Diamondback drilled 463 wells using an average of 15 drilling rigs (“just two years ago we would have needed around 22 rigs to drill that many wells”). The company completed 503 wells at an average lateral length of about 12,100 feet.
Diamondback said $150 million of its 2026 capex will be spent on Barnett and Woodford shales, the deepest development zones in the Midland Basin. The company has assembled the rights to almost 200,000 acres in those zones. Barnett wells show higher gas-oil ratios than core Midland Basin but stronger oil recovery.
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