Thursday, May 21, 2026

Musk Colossus And Anthropic -- May 21, 2026

Locator: 50844TECH.

Tag: Elon Musk Colossus Grok Anthropic 

Link here. 

WTI At $100 -- May 21, 2026

Locator: 50843B.

WTI: $100.60.

New wells reporting:

  • Friday, May 22, 2026: 50 for the month, 150 for the quarter, 307 for the year, 
    • 41453, conf, Devon Energy, Wagenman 33-28 XE 1H, 
  • Thursday, May 21, 2026: 49 for the month, 149 for the quarter, 306 for the year, 
    • None.

RBN Energy: after years of declining interest, the Anadarko is now an M&A hotbed. Link here. Archived.

The competition for upstream assets in the best parts of the still-growing Permian is fierce and the prices being paid reflect that. It’s a different story in the Anadarko, where oil and gas production has been flat for several years and some larger E&Ps have been heading for the exits. But there’s been a lot of big-money M&A in the Anadarko lately, mostly by companies buying up steady-as-she-goes production assets at reasonable prices and looking for upside. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at the often-overlooked Anadarko and the slew of acquisitions happening there.

As we said in Part 1, the 50,000-square-mile Anadarko Basin (see Figure 1 below) in western Oklahoma, western Kansas and the Texas Panhandle has been among the, um, less exciting oil and gas plays in recent years, with relatively flat production and only modest prospects for a rebound to its late-2010s glory days. Still, a lot has been going on below the surface on the acquisitions front and M&A activity has really been picking up in 2025 and the first few months of 2026.

We noted that some of the recent activity has been driven in part by a handful of larger, publicly held producers selling their positions in the basin to focus on other production areas and, in the process, reduce their debt. The buying side, in turn, has been dominated by what we refer to as “serial acquirers” — a mix of private and public E&Ps that have been gobbling up one set of Anadarko production assets after another. Generally speaking, the buyers like the fact that Anadarko is a reliable, relatively low-cost producer; that the infrastructure to process and pipe away crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs is already in place; and that the acquisition prices are reasonable.

Figure 1. The Anadarko and Ardmore Basins. Source: RBN

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

WTI Finishes Near $100; Five New Permits; Seven Permits Renewed -- May 20, 2026

Locator: 50842B.

Apple: Apple shares hit new all-time closing high. Link here

  • rose $3.28 to close at $302.25; Apple's all-time intraday high was $303.20; today's intra-day high hit $302.80.
  • much more information at the link. 

*************************************
 Back to the Bakken

WTI: $99.07. 

Active rigs: 25.

Five new permits, #42956 - #42960, inclusive:

  • Operators: Formentera Operations (4); BR
  • Fields: Noonan (Divide County); Jim Creek (Dunn County);
  • Comments:
    • Formentera Operations has permits for four Bernadette permits, SESW 13-162-95, 
      • to be sited 495 FSL and 2247 / 2347 FWL;
    • BR has a permit for a Firebird well, NWNE 12-145-96, 
      • to sited 529 FNL and 2205 FEL.

Seven permits were renewed:

  • Foundation Energy: seven Elkhorn Ranch Federal permits, Elkhorn Ranch, Billings County.

US Markets Surge; BRK Drops -- May 20, 2026

Locator: 50841BRKB.

New HEB Opens In North Texas -- Euless, TX -- May 20, 2026

Locator: 50840HEB.

Without question, the big news for the day, was the opening of the new HEB in south Glade Parks. I can ride my bike there in less than five minutes, open 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. HEB at the south end of Glade Parks; Target at the north end of Glade Parks. 

I was there at 5:30 a.m. for the grand opening. On my bike.

Earlier. 6:00 a.m. today: link here