Oil and natural gas activity in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford and Haynesville shales expanded at a steady clip during the third quarter, but the pace decelerated from the record-breaking second quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said. 

The Dallas Fed, as it is known, collected 3Q2022 data from Sept. 14-22 from 163 energy firms headquartered in Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas. The quarterly polls for the Dallas Fed’s Eleventh District gauge activity trends and price forecasts from oilfield services (OFS) and exploration and production (E&P) executives. 

“The business activity index – the survey’s broadest measure of conditions facing Eleventh District energy firms – remained elevated at 46.0 but below the 57.7 record-breaking reading last quarter,” energy...