Executive Summary:
Rigs: The total US rig count increased during the week of Jan. 31 from 519 to 520.
Infrastructure: Devon Energy will merge with Coterra Energy in an all-stock transaction to create a top 10 US producer with a combined enterprise value of $58B.
Supply & Demand: The US natural gas pipeline sample, a proxy for change in oil production, increased 5.8% W-o-W across all liquids-focused basins.
Rigs:
The total US rig count increased during the week of Jan. 31 from 519 to 520. Liquids-driven basins decreased four rigs W-o-W from 390 to 386.
- Permian:
- Midland (-1): BTA Oil Producers
- Delaware (-4): SM Energy, Matador Resources, Greenlake Energy
- Anadarko (+1): Continental Resources
- Powder River (+1): WRC Energy
- Uinta (-1): Koda Resources
Infrastructure:
Devon Energy (DVN) will merge with Coterra Energy (CTRA) in an all-stock transaction to create a top 10 US producer with a combined enterprise value of $58B.
The companies announced the merger last Monday (Feb. 2). Under the deal, DVN will own ~54% of the combined company, which will retain the Devon name and ticker.
The merger creates a top independent producer with operations in six major US basins. Both companies have a combined 750,000 acres in the Delaware Basin, as well as assets in the Marcellus, Anadarko, Eagle Ford, Powder River and Williston basins.
The Delaware will be the “crown jewel” for the merged portfolio, Devon President and CEO Clay Gaspar said during an investor call. The Permian acreage accounts for more than half of the total production and cash flow for the combined company, he said.
The merger adds to the trend of independent operators combining to create scale and capital efficiencies. Recently, SM Energy and Civitas Resources merged in November 2025 to better compete with the biggest operators.
Looking at the largest oil producers in Texas (excluding the New Mexico portion of the Delaware), DVN-CTRA will have combined annual production of ~479 Mb/d. This would make the company the fourth-largest Texas crude producer, behind only ExxonMobil (XOM; 923 Mb/d), Occidental Petroleum (OXY; 610 Mb/d) and Diamondback (FANG; 552 Mb/d).
Supply and Demand
US natural gas pipeline sample, a proxy for change in oil production, increased 5.8% W-o-W across all liquids-focused basins. This increase follows a large decline in late January due to freeze-offs caused by Winter Storm Fern across the US.
This week saw major increases in the Anadarko (+12.5%) and Permian (+18.6%) basins. Samples in other basin samples also increased, except for the Barnett, which decreased 18% W-o-W. Production is returning back to normal levels following the winter storm. The Rockies and the Gulf of America have a high correlation between gas volumes and crude oil volumes, whereas the Permian and Eagle Ford basins correlation is less than 45%.
As of Feb. 10, there is currently ~418 Mb/d of refining capacity offline for non-planned maintenance due to the winter storm shutting down refineries. PBF Energy is the most affected operator with 200 Mb/d in outages seen across its Paulsboro and Chalmette refineries.
Vessel traffic monitored by EDA along the Gulf Coast decreased W-o-W. There were 21 vessels loaded for the week ending Feb. 7. The trend is reversing downward after seeing 5 weeks of increases.
Presented by ARBO
Tariffs:
Gray Oak Pipeline, LLC: Certain available capacity discounts were increased.
Magellan Pipeline Company, L.P.: The tariffs were revised to add a new product and to update the product grade document to be consistent with ONEOK’s product grade documents.
The above information is provided by ARBO’s Oil Pipeline Tariff Monitor. For more information on regulatory proceedings or tariff rates, please contact please contact Corey Brill via email at [email protected] or phone at 202-505-5296. https://www.goarbo.com/