Amid forecasts for $100 oil next year, Midland-based Diamondback Energy said this week it expects to maintain 2022 production at current levels. Travis Stice, CEO, said Monday, “We are committing to maintaining our fourth quarter 2021 Permian oil volumes throughout next year, and we believe this can be accomplished by spending the amount of capital implied by our fourth quarter 2021 guidance run-rate… Efficiency gains, particularly in Midland Basin drilling and completion programs, have mitigated inflationary pressures seen on well costs and have led to our second decrease in capital guidance this year – now down 10 percent from guidance presented in April 2021.”
Average oil production for Diamondback in 2021Q3 was 239,800 b/d (404,300 boed), and for Permian it was 223,000 b/d (374,300 boed). Full-year 2021 oil production guidance is 222,000-to-223,000 b/d (370,000-to-372,000 boed), and full-year capex was lowered to $1.49 billion-to-$1.53 billion from $1.525 billion-to-$1.625 billion. Oil production guidance for 2021Q4 is 221,000-to-225,000 b/d (368,000-to-375,000 boed), and for Permian it’s 218,000-to-222,000 b/d (363,000-to-370,000 boed). During 2021Q3 Diamondback drilled 47 gross horizontal wells in Midland Basin and 11 in Delaware Basin. And Diamondback turned 63 operated horizontal wells to production in Midland and 10 in Delaware in 2021Q3.