A deep freeze has knocked roughly 10% of U.S. natural gas production offline, forcing refinery, chemical, and manufacturing shutdowns across Texas — once again exposing the system’s vulnerability to extreme weather.
Patterson-UTI’s 2025 rig activity provides a clear window into this shift. While overall drilling remains flat nationally, Patterson’s high-spec fleet continues to see strong utilization driven by large-scale Permian Basin operators executing manufacturing-style development programs. This analysis reviews where Patterson’s rigs are working, which operators are driving activity, and what the data reveals about the evolving economics of modern shale drilling.
SLB expects U.S. land rig counts to continue declining as operators maintain capital discipline, but views this environment as a structural opportunity rather than a headwind. As drilling becomes more complex and capital intensive, operators are turning to digital drilling optimization and AI to deliver better wells, lower risk, and higher returns — allowing digital revenue to grow even as rig activity falls.
Shell Canada’s recent Alberta facility amendment — centered on a major compressor and gas-processing upgrade — suggests the company is preparing its infrastructure for higher future volumes rather than maintaining legacy production. Facility permits of this scale are often the earliest signal of renewed drilling activity, indicating Shell may be positioning itself to resume Alberta drilling in 2025.
Cenovus Energy (CVE) is exploring a potential sale of its conventional oil and gas assets in Alberta’s Deep Basin, according to a recent Reuters report, as the company looks to reduce debt following its acquisition of MEG Energy.
Kinder Morgan made it clear that U.S. drilling activity is no longer the primary driver of midstream growth, with volumes increasingly shaped by LNG feed gas demand, power generation, and infrastructure utilization rather than rising rig counts. Across major plays — including the Permian, Haynesville, Eagle Ford, Bakken, and Northeast — the company views supply as durable and responsive to demand pull, allowing earnings growth even if drilling activity remains flat.
Instead, drilling programs unwind in stages — driven by economics, capital discipline, and inventory management. The recent decision by Continental Resources to pause drilling in North Dakota provides a clear, real-world example of how that process works and how drilling data often reveals the decision long before public statements are made.
Sempra has quietly assembled one of the most balanced LNG portfolios on the U.S. Gulf Coast — one that aligns directly with how LNG is being financed, built, and contracted in the next decade.
Venture Global has assembled one of the largest LNG development portfolios in the world — not through legacy infrastructure or national backing, but through an aggressive, modular, and execution-focused development strategy that has redefined how U.S. LNG projects are built.
Over the past decade, the United States has transformed from a marginal LNG importer into the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. At the center of that transformation stands Cheniere Energy — the company that not only launched U.S. LNG exports but continues to define how each new wave of LNG development unfolds.
