EIA: 93% of US oil production growth came from 10 Permian counties

Midland Reporter-Telegram

by Mella McEwen

It's widely acknowledged just how prolific the Permian Basin is in producing crude oil and natural gas. A new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows just how prolific the Permian is.

According to EIA analysts, just 10 counties in the Permian Basin have accounted for 93% of U.S. oil production growth since 2020.

Two of those counties, Lea and Eddy in New Mexico, accounted for nearly 1 million barrels per day or 52% of U.S. production growth between 2020 and 2024. Martin and Midland in Texas accounted for an additional 400,000 barrels per day or 21%. Six additional counties in Texas - Andrews, Glasscock, Howard, Loving, Reagan and Ward - together grew by 360,000 barrels per day or 19%, based on county-level production data from Enverus.

Crude oil and lease condensate production in these 10 counties averaged 4.8 million barrels per day in 2024, 37% of the U.S. total. Within these 10 counties, the primary geologic units responsible for this growth are the Bone Spring, Spraberry, and Wolfcamp formations.

"These numbers are staggering," commented Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. "It's further evidence that the Permian Basin is the most important producing basin in North America."

Between 2020 and 2024, total crude oil and lease condensate production in the United States grew by 1.9 million barrels per day. While production from those 10 Permian Basin counties accounted for 93% of oil production growth, production from the rest of the United States, including producing areas in offshore state or federal waters, grew by just 130,000 barrels per day.

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