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.
Exxon’s Cube development strategy is not theoretical — it’s visible in the permits. The COON-BEND lease in Block 38T2S shows how a mature Spraberry position continues to generate new drilling inventory through stacked, derisked development. This is recovery-driven growth, not exploration, and it’s exactly what Exxon has told the market to expect from its Permian program.
Exxon’s RICHARDS-GRISHAM lease demonstrates a true Permian factory model, with tightly batched permits, standardized well designs, predictable drilling cadence, and infrastructure timed precisely to move from execution to production. With identical geology, block position, and development logic, the adjacent EPLEY-GLASSCOCK lease is expected to follow the same repeatable manufacturing approach—making future activity a matter of scheduling, not subsurface risk.
The TORMUND Clean Brine Facility investment by Pioneer Water Management LLC supports low-cost, factory-style Permian development by converting produced water into a reliable, reusable supply that stabilizes drilling and completion operations. With 158 well permits issued, 138 wells drilled, and 65 open permits within a 20-mile radius, the facility aligns water infrastructure directly with sustained drilling activity and long-term manufacturing-driven shale development.
Exxon Mobil’s decision to market its Eagle Ford assets reflects a mature basin position where permitting peaked in 2017–2019 and has since declined to near-zero activity, signaling a shift from growth to harvest mode. Permit data shows development concentrated in core counties like La Salle, Karnes, and Atascosa and primarily within the Eagleville and Sugarkane fields, reinforcing that the sale aligns with Exxon’s strategic pivot toward higher-growth assets in the Permian Basin and Guyana.
After a year of record Permian output, transformational M&A, and heavy investment in technology, ExxonMobil enters 2026 with a very different operating posture than most global oil companies. While many peers are managing decline, Exxon is building what amounts to a vertically integrated energy-manufacturing platform — one designed to compound recovery, cash flow, and optionality across oil, gas, chemicals, and low-carbon markets.
AI and high-performance computing are being used to materially improve subsurface understanding, shorten decision cycles, and increase recoverable volumes, not merely to accelerate interpretation timelines .
Across surface execution, subsurface targeting, permitting behavior, and cadence consistency, Block 39T2S is a textbook manufacturing-style shale asset.
The restart of permitting after September 2024 isn’t a shift in strategy — it’s the next phase of a disciplined infill program, increasingly guided by AI-driven optimization.
The Permian Basin continues to reshape North America’s energy landscape—and natural gas liquids (NGLs) are now at the center of the next big growth wave. On Thursday, Enterprise Products Partners announced a major strategic move: Exxon Mobil is acquiring a 40% stake in Enterprise’s new Bahia NGL pipeline system and will help expand it to meet rapidly rising NGL production across the basin.
Exxon reported record Permian production of nearly 1.7 million BOE/d, driven by technology, Cube development, and operational efficiency. In the Midland Basin, they expanded their footprint with 80,000+ new acres, which they expect to enhance using Exxon’s proprietary proppant, drilling, and completion technologies.
