Exxon, Chevron likely to maintain Permian growth as independents scale back

(Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are likely to shoulder more of the Permian basin’s oil growth as independent producers cut back due to falling crude prices. 

Chevron expects growth “to resume in the Permian in the second quarter with higher frac activity,” the company said in a presentation Friday. Exxon didn’t comment specifically on its plans for the rest of the year but intends to grow Permian production 50% by 2030 to 2.3 million bpd. 

Several independent operators appear to be taking the opposite approach after U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and supply increases from OPEC+ caused oil to drop nearly 18% since April 1. 

Both EOG Resources Inc. and Matador Resources Co. have each said they plan to drop one of their drilling rigs. And Nabors Industries Ltd., a Houston-based drilling contractor, conducted a survey of 14 explorers accounting for about 43% of drilling rigs in the Lower 48 US states. It found the producers plan to slash about 4% of their rigs by the end of the year.

The supermajors are typically better suited to weather downturns due to their greater financial flexibility and integrated operations, with refineries often benefiting from lower oil prices.