SM Energy agreed to sell its southern Maverick Basin assets in Webb County, Texas to Caturus Energy for $950 million, divesting 61,000 net acres and 260 producing wells that are expected to generate $160 million of cash flow in 2026. The sale accelerates SM Energy’s balance-sheet reset, with proceeds earmarked for debt reduction and an updated return-of-capital framework to be announced with upcoming earnings.
Ovintiv is divesting nearly all of its Anadarko Basin assets in Oklahoma for $3 billion, exiting ~360,000 net acres and ~90,000 boe/d to sharpen its portfolio and accelerate debt reduction and shareholder returns. The move reinforces Ovintiv’s strategy to concentrate capital in its highest-return core assets in the Permian Basin and Montney, further strengthened by the recently closed NuVista acquisition.
Louisiana drilling held steady this week, with the total rig count rising modestly to 46 rigs driven by a small rebound in the Haynesville and increased offshore activity, while South Louisiana remained flat. Despite the uptick, operators showed continued capital discipline with no new Haynesville wells and very light permitting, led by APEX Natural Gas and Expand Energy maintaining the largest active rig positions.
The Marcellus/Utica rig count has quietly climbed to its highest level in more than a year, signaling a measured return of gas drilling across core Appalachian operators rather than a full-scale ramp. While the Haynesville continues to outpace it in total rigs, the data shows disciplined, sustained activity rebuilding in one of the country’s most important gas basins.
Oklahoma’s rig count slipped by one, but drilling activity in the Anadarko Basin remained unchanged, with all major sub-plays holding steady week over week — signaling disciplined, consistent development rather than a pullback. Mewbourne Oil Company, Continental Resources, Validus Energy, Camino Natural Resources, and Mach Resources continue to anchor activity, supported primarily by Patterson, H&P, and Cactus rigs.
Expand Energy Corporation framed Western Haynesville as a long-dated option, not a 2026 growth pivot, emphasizing it is early-stage, higher-cost, and currently in appraisal with no impact on near-term capital allocation. The strategic value lies in low-cost entry and future optionality if marginal U.S. gas supply shifts to higher-cost basins later in the decade.
Devon’s AI strategy signals that operators are no longer buying tools or services — they’re building AI-driven operating systems that internalize decision-making and compress execution cycles. For OFS companies, this shifts value away from human-intensive services toward clean data, seamless integration, and outcome-based partnerships, while eroding pricing power for stand-alone or non-integrated offerings.
The next productivity gains in shale won’t come from drilling longer laterals, but from understanding the subsurface in real time. By using HiFi subsurface sensors to measure rock behavior while drilling, operators like EOG Resources are shifting productivity from mechanical intensity to data-driven execution.
U.S. drilling engineers are increasingly centralized in hubs like Houston and Midland, supporting large, consolidated operators running factory-style drilling programs at scale. As shale matures, the role has shifted from experimental well design to disciplined, repeatable execution—where engineers manage more wells, more capital, and more risk than ever before.
Major operators like Chevron U.S.A. and Oxy employ large drilling-engineering teams because drilling at scale is an industrial system requiring deep specialization, continuous optimization, and rigorous risk management. What looks like excess headcount is actually the technical backbone that enables factory drilling, capital discipline, and safe execution across massive multi-basin portfolios.
