Permian Basin

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.

Range Resources Corp. and EQT Corp., two of the Appalachian Basin’s leading operators, announced a rare asset exchange late Wednesday that finds EQT Corp. entering the Permian Basin and Range blocking up its acreage in the Nora Field of western Virginia.

The U.S. onshore operations of Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P) are the continuing benefactor of increasing drilling activity, particularly in the Permian Basin, recovering spot pricing levels and a pressing need for more specialized rigs, the company’s CEO said Thursday.