Permian Operators Find Attractive ROIs With Diverse Playbooks
June 1, 2026
American Oil & Gas Reporter
by Danny Boyd
With the world waiting to see if there could be a break in the gridlocked Middle East, one American constant is providing relief for nations striving to keep the engines humming and the lights on: the Permian Basin. U.S. crude exports averaged an unprecedented 5 million barrels of oil a day for the first four weeks of May, with the Port of Corpus Christi and Port Houston busy loading foreign tankers diverted from the Middle East for the security of U.S. docks.
Global demand for U.S. crude to power international transportation and industry is higher than ever as domestic producers pump out 13.7 million bbl/d. The Permian contributes more than half of that, with an output around 7 million bbl/d, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Producers showed strong interest in the basin during a federal lease sale on May 20, quadrupling the previous record for lease sale revenue generation by submitting more than $4 billion in winning bids. They also set a record for the highest per-acre bid, pushing it to a whopping $357,129.
The industry’s eagerness for acreage in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico is a testament to operators’ confidence they can continue to achieve attractive returns there.
The companies writing the next chapter in the Permian Basin’s storied history range from public players such as SM Energy Company, which merged with Civitas Resources, to private equity-backed conventional entrepreneur New Height Energy. Discovery Operating and The Eastland Oil Company are among established family-backed businesses that remain mainstays in America’s premier basin.
Meanwhile, midstream firms such as Brazos Midstream and MPLX are hard at work building processing plants and pipelines to bring associated gas to market.
Permian Expansion
After closing its Civitas acquisition in January, SM Energy continues to focus on execution and expanding its drilling inventory as it exploits a Permian Basin position that now stands at 237,000 net acres. In total, the company has 696,000 acres across the...