Frackers are producing at a record rate, almost 10 million barrels per day. Astonishingly, they are doing it with about a third of the rigs they were deploying a decade ago. It's truly a productivity miracle.
Oil
Oil
Monday, November 13, 2023
The rollover in Permian shale production has been revised away -- now a new all-time high. And with that, overall US crude production repeats last month's historic high at 13.2 million barrels/day.
Oil
Monday, October 16, 2023
US crude production is back at all-time highs above 13 million barrels per day. Imagine what we could do if we didn't have restrictive exploration, production and transport policies.
And... new charts on page 6 tracking the critical role of discounting and shipping Russian crude.
Oil
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
An almost imperceptible uptick in total rigs, while shale production continues to fall. Maybe we're just beginning to see the first tentative effects of higher global prices.
Oil
Monday, August 14, 2023
Months of low prices continue to take their toll on drilling and production. If WTI back above $80 is going to make a difference, it will take a month or two to show up here.
Oil
Monday, July 17, 2023
As we reluctantly predicted, as rig counts fall so does US production. It's rare to see a month-on-month drop in production in the mighty Permian, but that's what we got in June. Blame persistent unexpected low prices.
Oil
Monday, June 12, 2023
The frackers eke out another new all-time high in total production at 9.32 million barrels per day. Rig count falls -- so for now, that's pure productivity. But we have to fear this production cycle may have begun to peak when rigs peaked in November.
Oil
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Somehow the frackers keep grinding it out -- and not just in the Permian anymore. More production, fewer rigs. We call that productivity.
Oil
Monday, April 17, 2023
There it is! A new all-time high for US crude production from shale. With a falling rig count, this pops our crazy productivity snake-chart on page 5 to a new optimum on the efficient frontier.
Oil
Monday, March 13, 2023
Production rises, rig count falls. Drilled-but-uncompleted wells are gone -- that is, they are back to their lows of 2014 -- so at this point, real drilling (and real capex) are going to have to come into play.