Shale companies continue to drill at a frenzied pace, adding rigs and breaking U.S. oil production levels with each passing week. Yet, the oil production is becoming increasingly geographically concentrated. Not only is the Permian basin accounting for much of the new oil production in the U.S., but a relatively small number of counties within the Permian are home to most of that action.
The drilling craze in the Permian has been going on for some time, but activity continues to pick up pace. The rig count in the Permian has surged over the past year, and jumped by 18 in the most recent week for which data is available, to 427, the highest total for the basin since early 2015.