Permian - the premier play

In the first of our series assessing producer economics, we analyse the Permian, where things are on the up

The shale business took some time to arrive to the Permian Basin in West Texas, but it has thrived there more than just about anywhere else. In the Permian, which produces 20% of US oil, shale drillers have found better returns than other tight oil plays, low geological and political risk and vast tracts of oil-rich land under-pinning huge growth potential. It is little surprise then that the Permian is at the leading edge of US shale's nascent recovery. The rig count is an imperfect indicator of what is going on in the oil patch, but it does point to where drillers are putting their money. And it shows that since oil prices started to rebound earlier this year most of the action has been in