Great Update On the Three Great On-Shore Oil Basins: Western Gulf Basin, Permian Basin, Williston Basin

The writer at SeekingAlpha suggests that readers will find it a surprise to learn that Texas oil production will surpass that of North Dakota. Regular readers won't find this to be a surprise at all.

Here are the 2012 EIA estimates of production:

• Western Gulf Basin (Eagle Ford): 0.89 million bopd
• Permian Basin: 1.18 million bopd
• Williston Basin: 0.72 million bopd

Here are the 2014 EIA estimates of production:

• Western Gulf Basin (Eagle Ford): 1.58 million bopd (78% increase)
• Permian Basin: 1.37 million bopd
• Williston Basin: 1.13 million bopd (57% increase)

There are a lot of story lines and a lot of surprises in that article, but North Dakota never taking the lead over Texas is not one of them.

The biggest surprise for me is the Permian Basin. This is an old, old field: the first commercial oil basin in the Permian Basin was completed in 1921. And, again, Midland is a boom town. Incredible.

It was recently reported that locals on the ground feel the Permian/Midland is about a year-and-a-half behind the Bakken. (I'm not going to look for the link but it was linked when posted.) I said at that time, that if the Permian was a year-and-a-half behind the Bakken, the Eagle Ford is probably even farther behind. All of this should move the peak oil curve to the right for those who subscribe to the peak oil theory.

OXY is the #1 producer in the Permian Basin.