Permian Basin

Texas preliminary March crude oil production averaged 2.01 million b/d, up from the 1.62 million b/d average of March 2013. Cumulative March production was 62.45 million bbl, up from 50.09 million bbl reported during March 2013, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

Permian pure-play operator Parsley Energy Inc. caught the market’s attention Friday after launching an initial public offering (IPO) in which it sold about six million more shares than anticipated, exceeding its offering price and sending the stock soaring in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

ExxonMobil Corp. will build its Permian Basin position to 1.5 million acres and Linn Energy LLC is becoming the biggest producer in the Hugoton Basin of Kansas after the producers agreed to a trade, sans cash, late Wednesday.

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.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. more than tripled the number of rigs it has deployed in the Permian Basin’s Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations during the first quarter of 2014, a move that helped the company beat its production guidance and grow its oil production.

The makeover at Devon Energy Corp. to become an oil heavy proved its worth in the first quarter, fueled by a new midstream arm and production gains driven almost exclusively by the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale.

The Wattenberg field, in combination with the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin, drove Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in the first quarter to record volumes of 819,000 boe/d, with domestic oil volumes 10,000 b/d above the midpoint of guidance. U.S. onshore output was 12% higher than year-ago levels.

Onshore specialist EOG Resources Inc. has moved four horizontal plays into drilling mode from exploration in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Powder River basins (PRB), joining a pot of development efforts ongoing in the Eagle Ford and Bakken shales and the Permian Basin.

EP Energy Corp. is tightening up its portfolio with a Texas-Louisiana two-stepper: buying in the Midland Basin and selling in the Ark-La-Tex Cotton Valley and South Louisiana Wilcox areas, the company said Thursday.