permian

Bitter cold swept across much of the country and well into the South last week, bringing consequences to producing regions as well as market areas. As has been the case during past cold snaps, producers, pipelines and distribution companies held their own, for the most part.

Reporting lower year-over-year 3Q2014 profits tied to lower oil prices and higher costs, Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) senior executives expressed bullishness Thursday about their slimmed down company’s future, emphasizing the huge growth potential they see in unconventional plays in the revitalized Permian Basin.

ExxonMobil Corp. has added 17,800 net acres to its Permian Basin portfolio in a swap of some of its California land with Linn Energy LLC.

The empty, windswept plains of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where tumbleweeds the size of SUVs roll down the highways and blinding dust storms stretch for miles, belie the growing prosperity of rural, mile-wide communities, with some fast food workers making $20/hour and motel rooms going for $400 a night.

ExxonMobil Corp. may have the largest natural gas portfolio in North America with Chevron Corp. not too far behind, but the biggest U.S.-based operators today are focusing their attention on oil and liquids — a strategy that paid off during the second quarter.

The well count and rig count in the U.S. onshore both increased slightly during the second quarter of 2014. The former was boosted by strong gains in the Permian Basin, Marcellus Shale and Granite Wash formation, while the latter reflected a slight improvement in drilling efficiencies, Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said Friday.

Over the last five months, the number of horizontal drilling rigs targeting oil in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico has climbed by more than five dozen, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), marking a steep ramp-up in activity.

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP and Pioneer Natural Resources have expanded an existing gas processing agreement that will lead to the construction of 200 MMcf/d of additional cryogenic capacity to serve production from the Permian Basin in West Texas.

Occidental Petroleum Corp., headquartered in Los Angeles since 1920, is relocating to Houston and spinning off its California exploration and production (E&P) unit to create a new independent.