Permian Basin

Texas oil and gas regulators are looking for ways to reduce natural gas flaring, a particular problem  in the Permian Basin, by providing incentives and requiring operators to justify why they need exemptions. Draft rules were approved Tuesday by the three-member Railroad Commission (RRC), and will now undergo a 30-day comment period. Chairman Wayne Christian…

Lower 48 stalwart Devon Energy Corp. is working with fewer rigs and completion crews across its four core holdings in the Lower 48, but stronger oil production still is in sight for the year, along with a special dividend payment from former natural gas juggernaut, the Barnett Shale. CEO Dave Hager led a conference call…

Permian Basin pure-play Diamondback Energy Inc. has brought all of its curtailed production back online and expects to generate free cash flow in the second half of the year, management said Tuesday. The company curtailed 5% of its oil output during the second quarter in response to a pandemic-induced global supply glut, “with zero wells…

MPLX LP has secured financing for the almost fully committed Whistler natural gas pipeline to transport supplies from the Permian Basin’s Waha hub to the Agua Dulce market in South Texas. On the second quarter earnings call held Monday, CEO Michael Hennigan said the lower capital spend related to the financing was already factored into…

U.S. liquids supply growth may struggle to grow more than 500,000 b/d a year as Lower 48 well productivity, particularly in the Permian Basin, declines, according to research by Raymond James & Associates Inc. The analyst team led by Marshall Adkins on Monday said its current base case production forecast for the United States assumes…

Apache Corp. has no plans to raise rigs again in the Permian Basin “unless oil prices recover well into the $50s,” CEO John Christmann said Thursday. The Permian, which in recent years had been the Houston independent’s No. 1 prospect, continues to deliver “highly competitive economics,” Christmann said. However, “other areas within our portfolio offer…

Natural gas exports from West Texas to Mexico could average up to 1.5 Bcf/d throughout the second half of 2020 and 2021, driven by the completion of new infrastructure south of the border, according to a new analysis by Rystad Energy. Fermaca’s Villa de Reyes-Aguascaliente-Guadalajara (VAG) pipeline began operations in June, marking the completion of…

Natural gas production from the Permian Basin is expected to return to record levels by late 2021 and reach 16 Bcf/d by the end of 2023, although delayed pipeline approvals could limit takeaway capacity beginning in 2023, according to new analysis by Rystad Energy. The 16 Bcf/d figure, which assumes a $45-50/bbl West Texas Intermediate…

Global drilling behemoth Precision Drilling Corp. cut costs by double-digits and improved efficiencies across its operations during the second quarter, but there’s paltry visibility as uncertainties surrounding the impacts of Covid-19 remain a concern, management said. Even though revenue plunged by nearly half from a year ago to $47 million, the multi-talented operator is poised…