The Shale Boom in the Permian Is Slowing Down

  • High well-decline rates burning cash as investors stay away
  • Smaller producers fight to survive, bigger ones cutting back

A drill rig stands over an oil well in the Permian Basin.

Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The promise of the Permian is shrinking.

Producers in the nation’s oil-rich shale basins are dialing back growth plans in the face of a growing panoply of problems that’s killing returns and keeping skeptical investors at bay.