Permian Basin Is Growing Into the Largest Oil Patch in the World

By Jessica Summers and Sheela Tobben

• Shale play in Texas, New Mexico to hit record output in May
• Oil patch seen overtaking Iran by the end of the year

The Permian shale play is all about setting records. Now, the region may even become the world’s largest oil patch over the next decade.
Output in the basin is forecast to reach 3.18 million barrels a day in May, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s the highest since the agency began compiling records in 2007. By 2023, the basin may produce 4 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. The Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia is currently the world’s biggest oil field, with capacity of 5.8 million barrels a day, according to a 2017 EIA report.
This is all thanks to the size of the oil deposits, coupled with increased technology and efficiencies. “The technology is the biggest driver,” said Rob Thummel, managing director at Tortoise, which handles $16 billion in energy-related assets. “The basin in and of itself could end up being the largest oil field in the world, even bigger than Ghawar in Saudi Arabia.”
Read more here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-24/permian-basin-seen-growing-to-largest-oil-patch-in-the-world