Shale Barons Find Fresh Powder in Wyoming
The Powder River Basin is having a moment, and not just because of Permian hangups.
There’s oil in them thar hills.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North AmericaThe Permian basin is the lodestar of the U.S. oil business. But its very success has left an increasing quantity of barrels all fracked up with nowhere to go, punishing companies riding the Permian wave (just ask Halliburton Co.).
On the other hand, the backlog does let other regions step out of the Permian’s shadow. One is the Powder River Basin, or PRB, in eastern Wyoming. While it produces less than 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the basin made an unexpected splash on several E&P earnings calls last month. Most notably, shale darling EOG Resources Inc. showcased what had been a relative backwater in its portfolio. The company now boasts of potential resources there of more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, more than 10 times the amount it had penciled in the previous quarter. The basin’s share of EOG’s inventory of premium prospects jumped from less than 2 percent to 17 percent.