Exxon and Oxy dominate the US Shale rankings.
Located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the Permian continues to be the richest oil and gas producing basin in the United States, with much of it produced at the largest public onshore producers and representing the largest oil and gas production in the 50 Manufacturers.
These well-known facts have been confirmed in a compiled list EnverusIn the year Top 50 largest public oil and gas operators in the U.S. based on total production by 2024.
The ratings have been shaped by a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in shale plays over the past two years, but the Permian remains king, Inverus says.
Supermajor ExxonMobil led the rankings for 2024 and retained the number one spot from 2023. Occidental Petroleum is ranked fifth in 2023, while the largest US natural gas producer – Energy Expan – was founded in 2013. Integration Chesapeake Energy and Southwest Energy is a new entry at the top, taking the second spot on Enverus’ list.
Source: Everest
As a result of mergers and acquisitions, the top 10 U.S. public offshore producers now account for 62% of production from the Top 50 on a boe/d basis, up from 56% in 2023, Inverus CEO Manuj Nikanj commented.
This is partly due to 60 billion dollar megadealThis saw Exxon acquire natural resources as a pioneer in all stock transactions.
“It is clear that the Permian is still king and is the most active region managed by the top 50 operators. Seven of the top 10 have the Permian as their most active region, Nikhanj said.
RELATED: Sweden Begins Building 100,000-Year Nuclear Waste Repository
The Permian also dominates the ranking in production volume – 81% of oil production and 40% of gas production from the Top 50 names come from this one basin, according to Inverse data.
Exxon’s offshore production of the three was 1.96 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) last year, with 53 percent of that oil and the Permian as its main production region.
The new entrant, Secondary Expand Energy, produced 1.69 million boepid last year, mostly natural gas, much of which plays in eastern US gas shale in the Appalachia and Marcellus and Utica regions.
Oxy’s 1.22 million boepd accounts for 58% of oil and puts the Permian as the main basin, third on the Envers list.
The rankings also show that the U.S. shale patch has mastered the art of efficiency—fewer rigs by 2024 could increase overall U.S. oil and gas production.
At the time the list of the top 50 public offshore manufacturers was compiled, they were operating a total of 298 machines, according to Inverus Nikanj. This compares to 322 regs at the same time last year.
