Gone are the days when Saudi Arabia was the largest producer of oil in the world. Today, the United States of America is also counted amongst the global leaders in the oil and petroleum industry. In the year 2017, on average, the oil companies in America produced about 14.5 million barrels per day (BPD). It accounted for 15 percent of the total oil production in the world. In that particular year, the USA was ahead of Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 13%, and Russia, which contributed 12 percent of the oil output. These numbers prove that the USA is among the top producers of oil on the global radar.
Let us introduce you to the top oil producers in the USA.
1. Chevron
Chevron is the top oil and gas producing company in California. It carries out its operations in three fields in the San Joaquin Valley including Midway-Sunset, Cymric, and Kern River. Some of these fields are over a century old. Although their output has reduced with time, the company has managed to retain production with modern techniques, such as using the latest technologies like pouring steam over the reservoirs to enhance oil production. The headquarters of the company is located in California.
Chevron derived the largest part of oil production from the Gulf of Mexico. It holds stakes in Mad Dog, St. Malo, Tubular Bells, and Jack fields. The company is gearing to start up its new project Mad Dog 2, which was scheduled to begin its production in 2021.
The other organs of the company include oil and gas production fields in New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado. However, the company owes its success to Permian from where' it has been actively producing oil and gas since the 1920s.
2. Pioneer Natural Resources
This oil-producing company has its operations exclusively in the country. It is even trying to give up its domestic acquisitions to shift its entire focus on Permian’s Midland Basic side, where' it is the largest producer. In 2018, the output in Permian’s Midland Basic averaged around 332,000 BOE/D, which was huge.
Pioneer Natural Resources is tapping into a region that has around 750,000 acres and over 20,000 locations for drilling. The 10-year strategic program of the company is aimed at enhancing oil and gas production to over 1 million BOE/D by the year 2026. If everything goes as per the company’s plan, it is sure to enjoy over 20 percent CAGR in the oil production for ten years. The only issue that can delay its progress is the lack of adequate pipeline capacity needed to transport all the oil. Although this issue has not affected this company owing to its proactive approach in locking the capacity on the pipeline, the situation may run out of hands.
As of now, the company has managed to deal with the other potential problems by joining hands with service and logistic companies. Pioneer has already secured the sand needed for fracking wells, as well as the natural gas processing capacity needed to enhance NGL production value.
3. EOG Resources
EOG Resources is the third-largest oil-producing company in the USA. It is known to extract oil from shale formations. The company gets the largest portion of oil production from Eagle Ford, where' it is the leading oil producer.
The second-largest oil-producing region is Permian. Given the production that EOG Resources receive from this region, it may become the largest oil producer of the company surpassing Eagle Ford.
The company also has an acreage position in the Rocky Mountain area, including DJ Basin, Powder River Basin, and Bakken.
For years, Bakken has served as the most important region for the company. However, now the company has put its hopes on the Powder River Basin after discovering 1.9 billion BOE additional resources in 2018. With it, the company’s total in the Powder River Basin reaches 2.1 billion BOE.
4. ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips is the largest oil producer in Alaska. Once the leading oil producer of the USA, the company began losing its grip on the industry. In the year 1988, it churned out over 2 million BPD, but only a few years ago, it roughly produced less than 600,000 BPD.
However, its work in Alaska is invigorating its position in the oil and gas industry. In the past few years, the company has managed to again gain its old position with the help of some significant discoveries. It is expected that the output of the company in Alaska alone may skyrocket and reach 300,000 BPD in the coming decade.
As of now, this company has large onshore land in 48 states. However, it is eyeing the ‘big three’, i.e., Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Permian.
5. Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil is counted amongst the leading oil companies in the USA. The company has been trying to pave its way to the top position. By adding land in Permian Basin, Marathon Oil has cemented its position in the top names. With this latest addition, it now has 4 US growth engines under its radar including Bakken and Eagle Ford.
In 2017, Eagle Ford became the largest producing area for the company at 80,000 BPD, where'as Bakken was at 52,000 BPD, Oklahoma at 29,000 BPD, and Permian at 5,000 BPD. The following year, the oil output in the Bakken region climbed 14% higher in the first half of 2018.
The company is now looking forward to cash on these four areas to accelerate its growth. The company has adopted a shale growth strategy that is expected to give it a high in the coming few years.