Permian Basin update
Over half of basin's unconventional production expected from Permian Midland
Per Magnus Nysveen, Rystad Energy
The Permian Basin consists of the Midland Basin, Delaware Basin, Central platform, and the Northwestern Shelf. These areas are located in western Texas and the adjacent area of New Mexico.
For this column, the focus is on the tight oil development within the Midland and Delaware basins. The formations covered include Wolfberry, Wolffork, Wolfcamp, and Cline in the Midland Basin; and Avalon/Bone Spring, Wolfcamp, Delaware Sands, and Wolfbone in the Delaware Basin.
Photo courtesy of Apache Corp.
Figure 1 illustrates the top 10 companies in the Permian in terms of acreage split by basin. Chevron and Oxy are the two largest acreage holders, with most of their acreage in the Delaware Basin. Apache and Devon Energy are the third and fourth largest acreage holders and the largest Midland acreage holders.
Figure 2 shows the 2014 and 2015 estimated net production for the five largest companies split by hydrocarbon content. Total unconventional production is expected to increase from 1,141 kboe/d in 2014 to 1,576 kboe/d in 2015. Of the total production, approximately 60% is contributed from the Permian Midland. In addition, there is conventional production that is expected to produce ~1,500 kboe/d in 2015.
The Wolfcamp formation is the only formation targeted in both basins. Figure 3 shows the 30-day average initial production for the top 10 counties targeting Wolfcamp, split by basin. The values include wells spud since 2013. Culberson County, where Cimarex is the main operator, has experienced the highest 30-day IP rates.
