Majors Cement Their Dominance Of Key US Permian Shale Basin

17 Nov 2023 Issue: 66 / 46 By: James Cockayne

Recent M&A deals, and talk of more, are putting the Permian and other key US shale basins increasingly in the hands of majors. And whilst independent players continue to prioritize frugality, the likes of ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips have their eyes on growth.

Both US supermajors, ExxonMobil and Chevron, have put expansion of their US shale output front and center of their global growth plans: Exxon via its $59.5bn purchase of Pioneer Resources announced 11 October (MEES, 13 October), and Chevron via the $53bn 23 October purchase of fellow US firm Hess. This comes as overall US output tops 13mn b/d for the first time with that from the Permian approaching 6mn b/d (MEES, 3 November).

Pioneer is a Permian pureplay producer, whose 721,000 boe/d of Q3 output put it around 100,000 boe/d ahead of Exxon as the basin’s number three producer – indeed Pioneer had been tied with Chevron for number one spot for 2021, before a spending surge from Chevron and fellow major ConocoPhillips saw them pull ahead (see chart). (CONTINUED - 1060 WORDS)