Thursday, June 21, 2018

The Permian Faces Shut Ins Due To Oil Pipeline Shortage

The fastest-growing oil producing region in the United States, the Permian, is nearing the limits of its pipeline takeaway capacity and some producers may be forced to shut in wells within months, according to the chairman of one of the biggest U.S. shale producers, Pioneer Natural Resources. “We will reach capacity in the next 3 to 4 months,” Pioneer’s chairman Scott Sheffield told Bloomberg in an interview on the sidelines of an OPEC conference in Vienna, which is attended by representatives of some U.S. oil companies. “Some companies will have to shut in production, some companies will move rigs away, and some companies will be able to continue growing because they have firm transportation,” Sheffield told Bloomberg, commenting on the Permian constraints that threaten to slow down the relentless pace of production growth. Oil production in the Permian is rising by 800,000 bpd annually, with current production at 3.3 million bpd, Sheffield said, adding that total pipeline capacity is 3.6 million bpd, so producers—especially those that don’t have firm deals for pipeline transportation—will be bumping into the limit of takeaway capacity in the next three to four months...MORE

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