NorthAmOil: Permian Basin developments make headlines

Various developments have emerged from the prolific Permian Basin in recent days, illustrating the region’s ongoing dominance of the US oil and gas industry.
Most notably, BP was reported to be planning to phase out routine flaring of associated natural gas in the basin by 2025. The super-major has embraced the energy transition as a major component of its long-term strategy and is pursuing net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. It intends to continue producing oil and gas, but has said it will only focus on more profitable and “responsibly produced” volumes in the future.
According to the Wall Street Journal, BP is planning to spend around $1.3bn on building pipelines and other infrastructure to collect and capture its associated Permian gas volumes.
The news comes as the impact of the energy transition on the Permian Basin is increasingly in the spotlight. At the same time, though, production in the region is rebounding from the lows seen last year in the early weeks of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The rebound is being accelerated by several operators ramping up drilling and production after activity was disrupted by severe weather in February.
This will likely be illustrated in upcoming first-quarter results announcements. Indeed, some producers are already releasing first-quarter updates. Among them is Diamondback Energy, a major Permian producer, which said last week that it was raising its full-year production guidance thanks to higher oil prices and its recent acquisition of QEP Resources.