Global oil and natural gas demand is forecast to remain tight in the months ahead, but Devon Energy Corp. is holding the line on its Lower 48 production and instead rewarding shareholders.

The Oklahoma City-based independent, whose portfolio is concentrated in some of the richest oil and natural gas basins of the country, plans to maintain production in 2022 at 570,000-600,000 boe/d, CEO Rick Muncrief said during the recent third quarter conference call. 

“Looking ahead to the remainder of this year and into 2022, we will continue to prioritize free cash flow over volume growth,” Muncrief said. “With our operations successfully scaled to generate strong cash flow growth, we have no intention of pursuing production growth until it is clear that market fundamentals have...