Oil

Bakken Shale natural gas production in North Dakota again set a monthly record in March as other indicators for active wells, rigs and prices all pushed higher, prompting the state’s top oil and gas official on Tuesday to predict a robust drilling effort this spring and summer.

Still treading water in terms of earnings, Los Angeles-based California Resources Corp. (CRC) has ramped up capital spending plans in response to the continuing positive outlook for global oil prices and after gaining 100% access of California’s large Elk Hills oilfield.

Natural Gas and oil production out of the United States’ seven most prolific onshore unconventional plays will be higher in June than in May, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), continuing a trend dating back 18 months.

Signaling it will reach Permian Basin growth and efficiency goals six months ahead of schedule later this year, Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s (Oxy) senior executives on Wednesday reported sharp increases in 1Q2018 earnings, and a 12% bump in Permian boe daily production.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. is working to assuage investor concerns about Permian Basin pipeline constraints, noting that oil contracts to the Gulf Coast have insulated the company from price differentials, while three-quarters of its natural gas production is under firm contract to sell in Southern California.

Record volumes of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) drove operating and financial results for Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) in the first quarter of 2018, CEO Jim Teague said Monday.

In what will be the largest auction of its type, Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is to offer seven farm-out license contracts in southeastern Mexico, the industry regulator, the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) agreed Thursday.

Super independent ConocoPhillips had a strong start to 2018, with production for 1Q2018 excluding Libya over 1.2 million boe/d, a 4% increase compared with 1Q2017 after adjusting for dispositions, the company said Thursday.

U.S. oil and natural gas executives are looking to incorporate emerging technologies to improve business operations, but they do not expect artificial intelligence (AI) or automation to eliminate jobs, according to KPMG’s 2018 U.S. Energy Outlook Survey.