Permian Basin

The Permian Basin is the largest petroleum-producing basin in the United States and has produced a cumulative 28.9 billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cu ft. of gas. Currently, nearly 2 million barrels of oil per day are being pumped from the basin advances in hydrocarbon recovery such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) have expanded production into unconventional, tight oil shales which up until fairly recently were unrecoverable. Prior to these advances, all the talk was about “Peak Oil” and that we would run out of recoverable oil. And then along came horizontal drilling and fracking and we are suddenly awash in oil and natural gas. But is it all about to come to a screeching halt as Permian oil production peaks? In the following article about Permian Basin Productivity Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com looks at where Permian productivity is headed now.