Permian Basin

Total active U.S. natural gas rigs decreased by one to 119 for the week ended Friday (Jan. 26), while an uptick in Permian Basin activity helped lift the combined domestic tally one rig overall to 621, according to the latest count from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR). U.S. oil-directed rigs increased by two for the period…

Shrinking volumes from gassy plays will overshadow higher associated output from the Permian Basin to drive a modest decline in natural gas production from key Lower 48 regions in early 2024, according to the latest modeling from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its updated Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), EIA projected 98.889 Bcf/d of…

Privately held Ellipsis U.S. Onshore Holdings LLC said it has acquired upstream assets across multiple Lower 48 basins with current production of more than 6,000 boe/d.  The assets are in the Permian and Denver-Julesburg (DJ) basins, as well as the Texas-Louisiana Salt Basin, said management of Dallas-based Ellipsis. The Texas-Louisiana Salt Basin is a dry…

Houston’s APA Corp., which in recent years has pursued overseas oil and gas prospects, is storming back to the Permian Basin with a $4.5 billion all-stock takeover of Callon Petroleum Co. APA, long a Permian exploration and production (E&P) stalwart, already has a broad portfolio in the Midland and Delaware formations. In the Delaware, where…

Record production, stout storage and seasonally soft weather-driven demand consistently put downward pressure on natural gas prices in 2023. Analysts expect 2024 to develop into a sequel – barring a sharp reduction in output or an exceptionally hot summer.   The January natural gas futures contract rolled off the books in the final week of 2023…

The blitz of tie-ups in the U.S. oil and gas industry is continuing, with Kodiak Gas Services Inc. offering to buy CSI Compressco LP in a deal that would become the largest contract compression fleet in the industry with an estimated 4.3 million hp. The all-equity acquisition, valued at $854 million including debt, would deepen…

Oil and natural gas permitting in the Lower 48 fell by double-digits in November from a month earlier, driven by losses in the Permian Basin, according to Evercore ISI. The analyst firm, which each month tracks state and federal permitting, said a total of 2,565 permits were issued in November, down by 11% month/month (m/m). …

Howard Energy Partners (HEP) completed about $800 million worth of growth projects and achieved record natural gas throughput on its assets during 2023, the company said Wednesday. San Antonio, TX-based HEP owns energy infrastructure assets in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Mexico. The newly completed projects include “new major pipelines and processing facilities in…

The aggregate value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the Permian Basin has surpassed $100 billion this year with the recently announced $12 billion takeover by Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) of CrownRock LP, eclipsing the previous record of $65 billion set in 2019, according to new analysis by Wood Mackenzie.  The Oxy-CrownRock deal followed ExxonMobil’s…