Go Long: Exxon, EOG Extend Permian Laterals, Lead US Onshore Drilling

No other operators are going longer in U.S. shale than Exxon Mobil and EOG Resources.

Exxon and EOG led the nation in U.S. land footage drilled during the first quarter, with more than a combined 8.23 million feet drilled onshore between the two producers, according to an analysis by Enverus Intelligence Research.

At roughly 1,562 miles drilled, that’s the equivalent of drilling twice across the entire state of Texas from east to west—or drilling over half the distance between Los Angeles and New York City.

Exxon Mobil led the nation in onshore footage drilled during the first quarter at approximately 4.23 million feet. EOG drilled approximately 4.02 million feet.

ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum and Devon Energy, which each boast deep multi-basin U.S. onshore portfolios, rounded out the top five.

Exxon drilled average lateral lengths of around 12,000 ft in the first quarter, per Enverus figures. The Texas-based supermajor is pushing lateral lengths further and further in the Delaware Basin, where Exxon has brought online a handful of 4-mile wells at its operating site near Poker Lake, New Mexico.

EOG, which is deep in the Delaware Basin, the Eagle Ford trend in South Texas and the emerging Ohio Utica shale oil play, drilled average laterals of about 9,200 ft.

EOG is seeing the benefits of drilling longer laterals across its shale portfolio, COO Jeff Leitzell said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

Last year in the Delaware Basin, EOG brought on four 3-mile lateral wells. This year, more than 50 Delaware wells, or 15% of its 2024 capital program, will go toward drilling 3-mile wells, Leitzell said.

In EOG’s Eagle Ford position, the company is on track to extend laterals by an average of 20%. Year-to-date, EOG has seen a 7% boost in drilled feet per day in the Eagle Ford.

“Longer laterals allow for more time being spent drilling downhole and less time moving equipment on the surface,” Leitzell said. “In addition, the more we extend laterals, the more benefit we derive from our in-house drilling motor program. EOG motors drill faster and are more reliable, which becomes more impactful on our drilling performance as lateral length increases.”

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Basin check-in

Data show that land specialists Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P), Patterson-UTI and Nabors Industries are doing the lion’s share of the hard work underground. Combined, the three companies drilled more than 32 million ft across the U.S. during the first quarter.

The Permian Basin, the nation’s top oil-producing region, continues to garner the bulk of U.S. onshore drilling activity.

There were 156 rigs deployed in the Delaware Basin and 114 rigs in the Midland Basin during the week ended July 19, according to most recent Enverus figures.

The onshore Gulf Coast region, including the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk plays, had 65 active rigs.

That week, H&P had 148 rigs drilling in U.S. onshore basins. Patterson-UTI had 96 rigs while Nabors had 62 rigs.

Oilfield services companies are merging to serve an increasingly consolidated E&P customer market upstream.

H&P announced a $1.97 billion acquisition of the U.K.’s KCA Deutag in July, giving H&P greater scale in Middle East markets. KCA Deutag also has onshore operations in South America, Europe and Africa, as well as offshore contracts in the North Sea, Angola, Azerbaijan and Canada.

Last year, Patterson-UTI combined with NexTier Oilfield Solutions in a merger valued at $5.4 billion.

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