The Permian Basin’s Delaware sub-basin continues to evolve at pace — and infrastructure keeps up with the growth.
In early February 2026, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved a new air permit for the Rooster Compressor Station in Ward County, Texas (Project #404683; Permit #182926). The permit, submitted and completed on February 6, 2026, marks the addition of a key compression asset for Targa Delaware LLC, reinforcing the region’s midstream capacity as gas volumes rise.
📍 Why This Matters
Ward County sits in the core oil window of the Delaware Basin, where wells produce not only crude oil but increasingly high volumes of associated natural gas. As drilling and completion activity intensifies, so does the need for gathering pressure support — and new compressor stations like Rooster are critical pieces of that puzzle.
Compression stations help maintain flow, reduce back-pressure on producing wells, and ensure gas is efficiently gathered and delivered to processing plants or takeaway pipelines. In the context of a gas-intensive Permian production profile, these assets are both operational and strategic.
🔍 What Targa Says About the Delaware Basin
In recent public remarks and earnings commentary, Targa Delaware has reinforced its long-term commitment to the Permian and specifically the Delaware Basin’s gas infrastructure.
Here are the key themes from Targa’s messaging:
📈 1. Delaware Gas Growth Is Strong and Sustainable
Targa has emphasized that gas production — particularly in the Delaware — continues to grow even amid stable or modestly declining rig counts. Rising gas-to-oil ratios (GORs) and multi-bench development mean more gas hitting gathering systems, which in turn increases throughput demand on compressors and pipelines.
🏗 2. Infrastructure Investment Is Active
Targa has multiple active midstream projects in and around the Delaware, including:
- New processing plants tailored to rising sour and sweet gas volumes
- Pipeline expansions like Forza to improve residue takeaway
- Intra-basin upgrades to manage higher capacity requirements
This infrastructure buildout reflects a basin that’s not only drilling wells but harvesting more gas per well — a dynamic that underscores compression and processing needs alike.
⚙️ 3. Compression Supports Producers and Throughput
The Rooster Compressor Station in Ward County is part of a broader midstream strategy: enabling producer activity to continue without operational pressure bottlenecks. Midstream leaders like Targa view compressor additions as predictable, necessary investments rather than optional expansions.
🚀 Top Operators Drilling in Ward County — 2025
Ward County’s drilling landscape in 2025 is dominated by a mix of large public E&Ps and active mid-cap players. In a newly compiled dataset of 125 wells drilled so far this year, the top operators include:
Rank Operator Wells Drilled 1 APA Corporation 23 2 Crescent Energy Inc (Vital) 18 3 Continental Resources 17 4 MANTI Exploration Operating LLC 13 5 SM Energy Company (Civitas) 8 6 Iron Orchard 6 7 Exxon (XTO) 5 8 Matador Resources Company 5 9 Permian Resources Corporation 5 10 ConocoPhillips Company 4
Together, these operators account for the majority of Ward County’s drilling activity this year. Their development focus — from Wolfcamp benches to Bone Spring intervals — is a strong driver of associated gas volume growth that midstream players like Targa are explicitly planning around.
📘 What This All Means
- More Wells = More Gas: As operators drill and complete wells in Ward County, associated gas increases — making compression and takeaway infrastructure essential.
- Targa’s Strategic Positioning: Targa is actively building assets — like Rooster — to support that growth and maintain system integrity.
- Delaware Basin Is Not Slowing: Even amid broader industry cycles, the Delaware continues to show robust drilling and development activity.
The Rooster Compressor Station is both a reaction to ongoing production and a signal of confidence in the basin’s momentum.
📝 Final Thought
In a basin where oil has traditionally led the narrative, natural gas — and the infrastructure that supports it — is increasingly taking the spotlight. Ward County’s drilling statistics and Targa’s infrastructure investments together tell a story of a mature but still expanding Delaware Basin, where midstream and upstream activity are tightly coupled and growth is methodical and measurable.
