Regional Production and Drilling Trends, Ownership, A&D Activity                                                                          

HOUSTON, July 25, 2025:  Energy Advisors Group (“EA”) has released a 90-page study on Conventional Oil & Gas which drills down on vertical oil & gas activity Onshore L48. We look at seven regions including Gulf Coast, Permian, Rockies, MidCon, ArkLaTex, Eastern and West Coast. The study examines production trends, ownership (public vs. privates), drilling activity, key formations, A&D activity and more. 

“The shift in onshore volumes from conventional to unconventional is remarkable and historic. Conventional onshore production has declined over 50% since 2014 to ~1.2 MMbopd & 13.4 Bcf/d.” said Brian Lidsky, EA’s Director of Research. “The Permian leads all U.S. regions for onshore conventional oil with a 27% share. Blackbeard is the Permian’s top conventional private operator. The Rockies leads for conventional gas volumes with a 52% share with Hilcorp leading all private operators with assets concentrated in the San Juan Basin.” 

 

Quick Key Takeaways

A&D – PDP with Upside. Is there room for more consolidation?

• Since 2022, conventional deals represent ~7% of U.S. A&D market or an average of $1.9 billion per quarter;
• Hilcorp recently entered the Permian buying legacy assets from APA ($950MM) and Exxon ($1.5B);
• Diversified Energy has aggressively bought conventional assets in the Anadarko, ArkLaTex & Appalachia and recently signaled more buying coming having struck a $2 billion deal with Carlyle to lead ABS financing;
• Mach Natural Resources accelerated its conventional strategy entering San Juan and Permian & doubling volumes;
• Williams recently bought more upstream gas in the Green River to integrate with midstream assets; 
• Terra Energy I (Kayne Anderson & Warburg) sold ~560 MMcfe/d (Piceance) to Flywheel and rebooted;
• Burk Royalty quietly bought NGP-backed Steward Energy II building on its San Andres horizontal book;
• Looking forward, we expect larger publics to continue shedding conventional assets as well as some privates.

E&P – Private operators lead in vertical drilling. Is the next growth wave HZ drilling in conventional reservoirs?

• L48 onshore conventional volumes account for ~9% & ~12% of US oil & gas volumes, respectively;
• Permian leads in conventional oil while the Rockies dominate conventional gas volumes;
• 31 operators have onshore conventional volumes of >10,000 Boepd and >1,000 wells (13 public, 18 private);
• Crescent Energy is a standout with material conventional vols after its pivot to Eagle Ford’s #3 operator by net volumes – market is reporting that CRGY has a process underway to sell some legacy assets;
• Private companies have drilled ~80% of new conventional wells since 2020;
• These same privates control ~70% of conventional gas volumes and ~55% of conventional oil;
• There are nearly 11,000 privates of which ~85% are small and producing <100 Boepd;
• About 1,500 privates (>100 Boepd) control ~60% of conventional vols, Top 35 control ~33%;
• Blackbeard is the most active conventional driller since 2020 – drilling 9 wells/month in Winkler, Crane, Cos., on the Permian’s Central Basin Platform (CBP) (avg: 6,050’ TVD, peak 150 Bopd, 690 Mcf/d);
• Shale tech can be applied to conventional reservoirs and lead to another wave of innovation; 
• Technologies incl. precise hz steering; multi-pad development; multi-well simultaneous stimulation; remote monitoring; stacked-pay co-development and more;
• Permian operators are applying shale tech to conventional reservoirs like the San Andres, Strawn and Yeso.

Capital Markets – What capital is driving conventional players? What is ABS?

• Conventional players: (a) Family (e.g., Hilcorp, Citation, Fasken), (b) Operators w/private capital, institutional investors (e.g., Merit, Scout, Jonah) and (c) traditional P/E (e.g., Quantum, Kayne Anderson, NGP);
• Asset backed securities (ABS) is a rising star for low decline mature PDP for financing;
• Diversified strikes deal w/Carlyle to pursue up to $2 B in PDP in a “highly compelling” market;
• Kayne Anderson re-ups with $300 MM for Terra II team to go buy conventional again and $400 MM with ex-Flywheel execs for Newco South Wind E&P. In May 2025, Kayne closed its largest fund w/$2.25 B; 
• High Net Worth & Family Offices increasingly taking first chair on funding running “P/E like” strategies.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To receive this EA Basin Perspective Series report, visit energyadvisors.com and contact us.

About Energy Advisors Group

Energy Advisors Group is a leading provider of global oil and gas divestment services. The firm and its partners have worked on over 1,000 assignments and advised on over $100 billion in transactions for over 400 clients.

 

Contacts: 

Brian Lidsky
Director of Research
713-600-0138
blidsky@energyadvisors.com

Blake Dornak 
VP, Marketing 
713-600-0123 
bdornak@energyadvisors.com