The Permian Basin | April 2020
Field Overview
Current WTI price is $15.50/bbl. Located in West Texas, the Permian Basin has been producing oil for over 100 years. It leads the US in oil production and estimates put 43 billion bbl of oil still in the Permian; 80% of those reserves are believed to be at less than 10,000 feet. Some top formations are the Wolfcamp, Upper/Lower Spraberry, and the Leonard.
State Drilling Statistics
Active Drilling Rigs in Basin- 246
Total Rigs in Texas- 231
Total Rigs in United States- 465
Total U.S. Rigs down 51.9% YTD
Permian Top Producers
Top Gas Producer – Apache
Top Oil Producer – Pioneer
Financial & Economic Updates
Permian Bankruptcies Could Fuel A Buying Spree For Big Oil
- Just because the U.S. oil industry has hit a rough patch, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the West Texas shale play is all played out. In fact, it stands to reason that, as competition dries up and blows away like so many tumbleweeds, Big Oil may step in and buy up faltering shale independents.
State Highlights
More oil and gas companies pulling out of Permian Basin amid market collapse
- In response to the suffering market, Cimarex Energy – which holds oil and gas operations in the Permian and mid-continent areas of the U.S. – announced that it would likely cut its capital investments by 55 to 60 percent, read a company news release, while dropping its active rig count to one in early May.
- Meanwhile, Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, a midstream company with operations in the Permian and Eagle Ford Basin in southern Texas, said it would reduce its capital budget to $10 million or less from its previous budget of up to $40 million.
New Mexico drops 30 oil and gas rigs in a month, market declines across Permian Basin
- New Mexico’s oil and gas activities continued to decline last week as oil prices plummeted into negative numbers and demand for fuel shrunk due to the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions.
- As of Friday, Baker Hughes reported New Mexico had sunk to 70 active drilling rigs, down 30 from a total of 100 at the start of the month, the lowest rig count of the year, and 14 from the prior week’s total of 84.
Top Gas Producers
| Rank | Company | Production (MMscf / Month) |
| 1 | Apache | 27,329 |
| 2 | Pioneer | 21,508 |
| 3 | Oxy | 16,893 |
| 4 | Cimarex | 15,904 |
| 5 | Chevron | 14,915 |
Top Oil Producers
| Rank | Company | Production (STB/Month) |
| 1 | Pioneer | 8,212,304 |
| 2 | Diamondback | 4,637,925 |
| 3 | XTO | 4,467,356 |
| 4 | COG | 4,324,886 |
| 5 | Oxy | 4,241,803 |
Refining
Texas Gas Production
Texas Oil Production
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www.eia.gov
www.drillinginfo.com
www.bhge.com
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