Permian Basin

Denver-based Ovintiv Inc. streamlined the business during 1Q2021 to focus only on the Anadarko, Montney and Permian basins as it eyes slashing debt to appease restless investors. With long-held but neglected shale properties in Canada’s Duvernay and the South Texas Eagle Ford sold off, the independent has accelerated a $4.5 billion total debt target timeline…

Vencer Energy LLC, the upstream subsidiary of global commodities trading giant Vitol, said Friday it has agreed to acquire Hunt Oil Co.’s assets in the Permian Midland Basin for an undisclosed sum. The assets comprise 44,000 acres across five counties with current daily production of about 40,000 boe/d, said Geneva, Switzerland-based Vitol. The acquisition “realizes…

Buoyed by growth in the natural gas patch, the U.S. rig count inched higher during the week ended Friday (April 30), adding two units to reach 440, according to the latest tally from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Co. (BKR). Two natural gas-directed rigs were added in the United States during the week, along with…

Texas operators applied for more oil and gas drilling permits during March than a year earlier, with the Permian Basin still the go-to place for activity, according to state regulators.  The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) said it issued 798 original drilling permits last month, versus 744 in March 2020.  Last month, the RRC issued…

Permian Basin-focused Solaris Midstream Holdings Inc. said it has completed offering $400 million in senior unsecured notes for the first sustainability linked bond (SLB) in the produced water infrastructure industry. The Houston-based operator, parent company to Solaris Water Midstream LLC, said the notes were a “landmark issuance.” SLBs, which are used for general corporate purposes,…

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co., whose focus has long been in the Permian Basin Midland, is plunking down $6.4 billion to build its base with the takeover of West Texas competitor DoublePoint Energy LLC.  The deal, a cash-and-stock split, would add 97,000 net contiguous acres directly offsetting and overlapping Pioneer’s existing footprint. The mostly undrilled…

As the oil and natural industry pivots toward producing cleaner energy and controlling emissions, an analysis by a Texas association of independent producers and royalty owners found that methane intensity in the Permian Basin has declined from 2011-2019 even as production surged to record levels. Conducted by Texans for Natural Gas, a project of the…

Lower 48 exploration and production (E&P) firms must resist the urge to dramatically ramp up production as oil prices and demand recover, according to the CEOs of two U.S. heavyweights, ConocoPhillips and Pioneer Natural Resources Co.  “I hope there is discipline in the system,” ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said Tuesday during a webcast panel at…

Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s vision to yank carbon emissions from the atmosphere in its top development, the Permian Basin, took a giant step forward Tuesday with the first engineering phase given the green light. Australia’s Worley Ltd. was awarded the front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the first of four phases of the direct air capture…