The Wolfcamp shale play in West Texas is a major driver of growing oil and gas production in the Permian Basin, according to a new report from the Energy Department.
As of September, crude oil production in the Wolfcamp — an oil and gas formation that stretches across the Permian Basin — accounted for nearly one-third of all crude oil production in the Permian, and more than a third of natural gas production in the booming basin.
The increased production has — in part — made the Permian Basin the country's most productive oil field.
"Rising productivity in the Wolfcamp, like in other plays in the Permian Basin, has been driven mostly by drilling longer horizontal laterals and optimizing completions," the report found.
The Energy Department found the number of producing wells in the Wolfcamp has grown significantly. In 2005, there were 2,200 wells in the West Texas shale play. Now, there’s 7,750.
The Energy Department expects production in the Wolfcamp to continue driving production increases in the Permian. But, they say, a lack of pipeline capacity could slow the rate of growth.
