By the Numbers: Black gold rush

Name: WORLD
Price range: $

ExxonMobil’s latest acquisition heralds West Texas as the enduring U.S. oil king

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

You have {{ remainingArticles }} free {{ counterWords }} remaining. You've read all of your free articles.

Full access isn’t far.

We can’t release more of our sound journalism without a subscription, but we can make it easy for you to come aboard.

Get started for as low as $3.99 per month.

Current WORLD subscribers can log in to access content. Just go to "SIGN IN" at the top right.

LET'S GO

Already a member? Sign in.

$59.5 billion

The amount ExxonMobil will pay to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources—and its mineral rights—in one of two major oil company mergers announced in October. The purchase of Pioneer and its holdings in the West Texas Wolfcamp Shale will make ExxonMobil a major player in the U.S. fracking industry.

46.3 billion barrels

The amount of recoverable oil within the Wolfcamp Shale and Bone Spring Formation found in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico according to a 2018 U.S. Geological Survey estimate, the biggest discovery ever identified by the agency.

45%

The share of U.S. crude oil production accounted for by Permian Basin drilling and fracking, according to Barron’s.

12.99 million barrels

The daily rate of U.S. crude oil production in July 2023 according to the latest Department of Energy figures—just shy of the single-month record set in November 2019.

Business & Economy