Permian Basin boom, oil in West Texas​

​​​​​​​TEXAS – The Permian Basin of West Texas appears to be recovering at a brisk pace but a spike in drilling permits has not yet translated in the rig count for the Eagle Ford Shale just south of San Antonio.

Figures from the Baker Hughes Rig Count released on November 18 show that the Permian Basin added 11 new drilling sites while the Eagle Ford remained flat.

Without a doubt, all eyes are on the Permian Basin, where the region’s six oil-rich geological formations have made it the hottest shale play in the United States.

A recent report from the U.S. Geological Survey revealed that the Wolfcamp formation alone holds an estimated 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.

With a flurry of merger and acquisition activity in the Permian Basin over the past nine months, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported earlier that the West Texas shale play now accounts for half of the active rigs in the entire United States.

New oil rig activity provides business for many subcontractors out in the field. Each drilling rig represents 224 jobs on and off the drilling pad, according to a study from the University of Houston.