Diamondback’s Midland County permits show a clear factory-style drilling strategy, with 12 pads and 50 wells organized across multiple development corridors. While 17 wells have already been drilled, the Rio Trinity and Battleground developments represent the largest remaining drilling inventory, signaling continued activity in the area.
EOG has drilled 16 wells across six defined pads in Ohio in 2026, with activity concentrated in Harrison and Guernsey Counties and supported by three primary rigs. The structured pad development and disciplined rig deployment confirm the Utica’s elevation to a top-tier, manufacturing-style growth asset within EOG’s portfolio.
Occidental Petroleum subsidiary 1PointFive expects its STRATOS direct air capture (DAC) facility in the Permian Basin, Texas, to begin initial operations in Q2 2026, with Phase 1 in the final stage of startup and Phase 2 commissioning beginning the same quarter. Once fully ramped, the project is designed to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year, positioning STRATOS as one of the largest DAC facilities in the world.
Diamondback’s county-level activity confirms what management said on the call: the Permian is a disciplined manufacturing engine, not a basin in decline. Rigs and near-term permits are tightly concentrated in Midland and Reagan, momentum is building in Glasscock, and deep inventory in Martin is being preserved as optionality — exactly what a “yellow light” strategy looks like on the ground.
Exxon’s Glasscock County Section 40 development is a tightly engineered Midland Basin manufacturing unit, with four discrete pads, uniform Spraberry horizontal well designs at ~10,046 ft, and zero surface or subsurface dispersion. The measured, phased cadence — with meaningful undrilled inventory preserved — reflects Exxon’s broader Permian strategy: lower-cost, technology-enabled execution focused on long-cycle recovery and sustained growth well beyond 2030.
A rapid escalation in the Middle East has pushed oil and gas markets into crisis mode, as attacks near the Strait of Hormuz threaten the flow of up to a third of globally traded crude and a fifth of LNG supply. With tanker traffic halted and insurers withdrawing coverage, prices are being driven by chokepoint risk rather than fundamentals, leaving energy markets heavily skewed to the upside.
Exxon Mobil Corporation made it clear that the Permian is a long-run manufacturing asset with no near-term peak, and the county-level data shows exactly how that strategy is executed on the ground. Midland, Eddy, and Martin operate as Steady State counties drilled through price cycles, while Upton and Glasscock are Emerging counties where recent permits and forward wells signal the next phase of disciplined expansion.
The Q4 2025 earnings calls make it clear the Permian is no longer being run as a growth race, but as a disciplined, manufacturing-style cash engine built to perform across price cycles. Fewer rigs, lower capital, and improving recovery are extending inventory life and reinforcing the basin’s role as the most durable and resilient asset in U.S. shale.
Whitecap Resources Inc. is using wine-rack development in its Montney and Duvernay assets to deliver 10–20% well performance gains and accelerate free cash flow through optimized spacing and lower interference, choosing a capital-disciplined alternative to higher-risk cube development that preserves flexibility while industrializing the play
Spartan Delta’s Duvernay-focused strategy is reflected in a 2025-heavy Willesden drilling permit inventory (20 CY+PY records) followed by a February 2026 facility licence amendment, signaling disciplined, steady-state development supported by optimized, low-emissions surface infrastructure rather than a new drilling ramp.
