Locator: 51440B.
Economy: New York manufacturing activity accelerates. Link here. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s statewide manufacturing index of business conditions rose to 20.6, its highest reading in four years.
Factory activity in New York State grew strongly in August, according to the latest monthly edition of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its statewide manufacturing index of business conditions rose to 20.6, its highest reading in four years. A consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a reading of 12.
Russia: receives first gasoline cargo from India as fuel shortages spread. Link here, from Charles Kennedy.
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Back to the Bakken
WTI: $85.28.
New wells reporting:
- Thursday, August 20, 2026: 39 for the month, 80 for the quarter, 424 for the year,
- 42209, conf, Murfin Drilling, CD Steffan 1-17H,
- 42208, conf, Murfin Drilling, CD Steffan 1-18H,
- 41357, conf, Whiting, Gullikson Federal 5203 42-31 3B
- 41158, conf, Whiting, Dobias 5203 44-32 2B,
- Wednesday, August 19, 2026: 35 for the month, 76 for the quarter, 420 for the year,
- None.
- Tuesday, August 18, 2026: 35 for the month, 76 for the quarter, 420 for the year,
- 41973, conf, Devon, Thunderbolt 10-12 4H,
RBN Energy: Permian gas processing buildout continues, with a tilt toward the Delaware. Link here. Archived.
Since the start of 2022, more than 12 Bcf/d of new gas processing capacity has come online in the Permian, about half of it in the Midland Basin and half in the Delaware. That unprecedented, multibillion-dollar buildout will be continuing without let-up through early 2029, and the shift toward the gassier Delaware — seen by many operators as offering a longer runway for future growth — is picking up steam. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the latest tranche of gas processing plants under development in the Permian and what these projects reveal about production growth trends in the world’s most prolific stacked play.
Things are looking up for Permian natural gas. After an extended period of pipeline takeaway constraints and negative gas prices at the Waha Hub, the situation for producers and marketers has been improving as new takeaway capacity has come online, first in June with the official startup of the 570-MMcf/d expansion on the now-2.55-Bcf/d Gulf Coast Express (GCX). More recently, our weekly NATGAS Permian report has cited initial flows on both the Hugh Brinson Pipeline (Phase 1 capacity of 1.5 Bcf/d) and the Blackcomb Pipeline (ramping up to 2.5 Bcf/d of capacity over the next few months).
With the untangling of the takeaway logjam — and still more pipeline capacity on the way, including Hugh Brinson’s Phase 2 next year and Eiger Express in 2028 — Waha prompt-month and cash prices have turned positive, and we expect they will stay there for some time. (See our recent Fly Like an Eagle for more.)
All that’s given new confidence to crude-oil-focused producers in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, whose wells also churn out massive volumes of associated gas that needs to be run through gas processing plants. As we’ve discussed in many a blog over the past several years, operators in the Midland and Delaware basins have been in a constant struggle to stay one step ahead on the gas processing front — that is, to be sure they will have sufficient processing capacity in place as new production starts up.
If anything, that challenge has become even more, well, challenging over the past couple of years as the lead time for key, in-demand processing plant components like brazed aluminum heat exchangers (aka “cold boxes”) and turbo-expanders has increased. “Lead times definitely have gotten extended,” Pat McDonie, Targa Resources’ president of gathering and processing, said during the midstream giant’s August 6 earnings call. “A lot of it is around the electrical infrastructure for the plant. ... Frankly, we’ve adapted to that.”
With takeaway constraints easing, Waha prices well north of zero, and dry-gas production in the Permian approaching a record 23 Bcf/d, we thought it would be a good time to discuss the latest round of gas processing project announcements and what they say about where things stand — and where they are headed.
