Oil and Gas Investor Magazine - January 2025
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In this issue of Oil and Gas Investor, Executive Editor-at-Large Nissa Darbonne explores the "Great AI Race for Electrons" as data-center developers scramble to secure 24/7 power to support generative AI and U.S. gas producers line up to meet that demand.
Additionally, OGI presents the special report, Shale 2025, where our expert editors take an in-depth look into the state of U.S. shale and what to keep an eye for in the coming year.
OGI Features
BYOP (Bring Your Own Power): The Great AI Race for Electrons
Data-center developers are scrambling to secure 24/7 power as generative AI has upped the tech game to, well, a nuclear level. U.S. gas producers are being called to meet demand as natgas is the quickest way to get more electrons into the taps.
Pickering Prognosticates 2025 Political Winds and Shale M&A
For oil and gas, big M&A deals will probably encounter less resistance, tariffs could be a threat and the industry will likely shrug off "drill, baby, drill" entreaties.
Special Report: Shale 2025
Back to the Future: US Shale is Growing Up
The Patch’s maturity will be tested in 2025 amid ongoing consolidation and geopolitical dissonance.
Q&A: Enverus CEO Manuj Nikhanj
Widespread consolidation throughout 2024 reshapes the list of top public producers.
Permian Basin: The Once and Future King Keeps Delivering
The core is in full-scale manufacturing mode, with smaller intrepid operators pushing the basin’s boundaries further and deeper.
Eagle Ford: Sustaining the Long Plateau in South Texas
The play lacks the growth profile of the Permian Basin, but thoughtful M&A and refrac projects are extending operator inventories.
Appalachia: Natural Gas is Poised to Pay
Increasing demand for gas is expected to rally prices and boost midstream planning as the new administration pledges to loosen permitting and set the stage for M&A in the region.
Uinta Basin: Horizontal Boom to Continue
After two large-scale transactions by SM Energy and Ovintiv, the Uinta Basin is ready for development—and stacked pay exploration.
The AI-Synergy
An abundance of data enables automation that saves time, cuts waste, speeds decision-making and sweetens the bottom line. Of course, there are challenges.
Gas-Powered Expansion
Rising electricity demand may finally push natural gas demand to catch up with production.
E&Ps Making More U-Turn Laterals—And Problem Free
Of the more than 70 horseshoe wells drilled to date, 35 were in just the first nine months of 2024 as operators find 2-mile, single-section laterals to be problem-free while more economic than two 1-mile straight holes in their isolated acreage.
Feature
Shale Outlook Appalachia: Natural Gas Poised to Pay
Increasing gas demand is expected to rally prices and boost midstream planning as a new Trump administration pledges to loosen permitting—setting the stage for M&A in the Appalachian Basin.
At Closing
Darbonne: The Power Grid Stuck in Gridlock
Greater power demand is coming but, while there isn’t enough power generation to answer the call, the transmission isn’t there either, industry members and analysts report.
E&P Momentum
Back to the Future: US Shale is Growing Up
The Patch’s maturity will be tested in 2025 amid ongoing consolidation and geopolitical dissonance.
Pickering Prognosticates 2025 Political Winds and Shale M&A
For oil and gas, big M&A deals will probably encounter less resistance, tariffs could be a threat and the industry will likely shrug off “drill, baby, drill” entreaties.
Shale Consolidation Aftermath: The Field Narrows
Widespread consolidation has reshaped the list of top public producers, says Enverus CEO Manuj Nikhanj.
Shale Outlook Eagle Ford: Sustaining the Long Plateau in South Texas
The Eagle Ford lacks the growth profile of the Permian Basin, but thoughtful M&A and refrac projects are extending operator inventories.
Shale Outlook Permian: The Once and Future King Keeps Delivering
The Permian Basin’s core is in full-scale manufacturing mode, with smaller intrepid operators pushing the basin’s boundaries further and deeper.
Shale Outlook: E&Ps Making More U-Turn Laterals, Problem-Free
Of the more than 70 horseshoe wells drilled to date, half came in the first nine months of 2024 as operators found 2-mile, single-section laterals more economic than a pair of 1-mile straight holes.
Energy Transition
Uncertainty Abounds: IRA Clean Energy Incentives Await Fate
Policy experts weigh in on the next possible steps for President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, following the Trump-led Republican trifecta.
Midstream
Bracewell: Many Await Updates to Existing CO2 Pipeline Safety Regulations
Pipeline proponents are facing challenges and have been hampered by the lack of clarity regarding CO2 pipeline safety regulations.
Shale Outlook: Power Demand Drives Lower 48 Midstream Expansions
Rising electrical demand may finally push natural gas demand to catch up with production.
New Financings
Trying to Keep Tabs on the Inflation Reduction Act’s $370B
Several online trackers are following the flow of Inflation Reduction Act money, but a full accounting of the billions already obligated by the Biden administration is a monumental task.
Technology
AI-Shale Synergy: Experts Detail Transformational Ops Improvements
An abundance of data enables automation that saves time, cuts waste, speeds decision-making and sweetens the bottom line. Of course, there are challenges.
BYOP (Bring Your Own Power): The Great AI Race for Electrons
Data-center developers, scrambling to secure 24/7 power, are calling on U.S. producers to meet demand as natgas offers the quickest way to get more electrons into the taps.
Trends & Analysis
Shale Outlook Uinta: Horizontal Boom to Continue in 2025
After two large-scale transactions by SM Energy and Ovintiv, the Uinta Basin is ready for development—and stacked pay exploration.