Here's the latest you need to know on the Permian Basin oil and gas industry

Editor's note: This will be updated weekly with the latest business deals, data and regulations affecting the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin.

Oil and gas continue to boom in the Permian Basin, and lately companies seem focused on increasing the ability to process or move fossil fuels, specifically natural gas, out of the region for exportation to the rest of the world.

Two separate but significant natural gas projects were announced in recent weeks. Enterprise Products Partners said April 3 it was building a natural gas processing plant in the Delaware Basin. That’s the western region of the broader Permian which straddles the Texas-New Mexico state line.

Enterprise’s plant, known as the Mentone West 2 plant, will be in Loving County, Texas, practically on the state line, and process up to 300 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, along with up to 40,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids. That facility is expected to go into service in 2026.

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Meanwhile, Conduit Power and Sunbridge Energy Services said April 2 the companies began producing natural gas-driven power at a facility in the basin. The power plant will produce about 5 megawatts of power, operated by Conduit via contract with Sunbridge. It’s been going for about five months, according to a press release, powering Sunbridge’s compressed natural gas (CNG) plant that supplies about 50 million cubic feet per day for power to oil and gas operators in the region.

The power is sent to oil and gas operators as a “clean fuel” alternative, read the release, to power heavy equipment for drilling, completion and midstream operations throughout the basin.

Permian Basin oil and gas production continues to grow

For comparison, the Permian Basin was forecast to average about 25.1 billion cubic feet per day in April, growing by 140 million cubic feet per day in May for next month’s average of about 25.2 billion cf/d, according to the Energy Information Administration.

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That’s the second-most overall production and the most growth, by far, of the U.S.’ major shale basins. The Appalachia region had the highest production forecast at about 36 billion cf/d in May, the EIA reported, after a predicted drop of about 137 million cf/d between this and next month. If the trend continues, the Permian Basin is on a path to lead the U.S. in natural gas production.

The Permian already leads in oil at about 6.2 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) predicted in May, the EIA reported, after adding 12,000 bopd compared to April.

Feds raises costs on oil and gas producers via new lands rule

Oil industry supporters were worried all that growth and production could be at risk after the Bureau of Land Management last week published its new public lands rule, raising federal fees and other requirements for companies to drill for fossil fuels on public land. The new rule also sought to prioritize lands in active drilling areas for leasing to energy companies, aiming to move leases away from areas targeted for conservation such as near national parks.

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The move was celebrated by some environmentalists who said it was a positive step toward mitigating the impacts of oil and gas on pollution but was criticized by others for doing little to relegate climate change. Industry groups said the rule would only raise prices for consumers.

The BLM pointed out that this was the first update to its oil and gas regulations since 1988, and that the rules needed modernization to account for increase drilling and higher prices for things like remediating abandoned wells."

Along with environmental groups, the rules were supported by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), but were opposed by the Western Energy Alliance as President Kathleen Sgamma contended the rules would “price small businesses out of the market.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Here's what you need to know about oil and gas in the Permian Basin