Texas Crude Production Hits Record in 2024

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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), the state's energy regulatory agency, last week reported preliminary 2024 production figures showing the state surpassed the 2 billion-barrel mark (reaching 2,003,844,281 barrels, to be precise) for crude oil that year for the first time. The state also set an all-time record for natural gas production at 12.62 trillion cubic feet. The gas figure surpasses the previous record of 12.3 trillion cubic feet, set in 2023.

These figures reflect an ongoing trend that started with the shale revolution, during which the state's oil and gas production has been on a steady rise for more than a decade, except for the brief hiccup in 2020 due to the COVID-19 quarantines.

Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, said: "Driven primarily by the Permian's improved well-productivity, domestic demand was met, and natural gas continued to supply affordable and reliable power. Texas also led in 16 out of the 19 sectors used to define the oil and natural gas industry for employment in 2024.

"Collectively, our industry supported 2.8 million direct and indirect workers in Texas last year. In 2024, direct gross regional product for the Texas oil and natural gas industry was $366 billion."

Click on the image at right for the RRC's lists of the top 10 oil and gas producing counties in Texas for 2024.

Nine of the top 10 oil-producing counties are in the prolific Permian Basin, with the lone exception, Karnes County, in the Eagle Ford Shale southwest of San Antonio.

Most of the top 10 gas-producing counties also are in the Permian Basin, with the exception of Webb County in the Eagle Ford and Harrison and Panola counties, both of which are in the Haynesville Shale in East Texas.

Total production in 2024 came from 158,989 oil wells and 83,536 gas wells, the RRC said.

Bubbling underneath the news of record-setting production there is a growing undercurrent of concern about how long this growth can continue. IIR Energy Market Strategist Geoffrey S. Lakings noted a Reuters story saying the Permian is becoming more mature, and may be looking at "peak oil" production in the next few years. Also, new wells produce increasing percentages of water and natural gas, reducing the crude produced and creating issues for produced water disposal and for backlogged natural gas pipelines.

There is a reason for this concern, even if President Donald Trump's exhortation to "drill baby, drill" were to be fully implemented. Rapid replacement of production has become vital in the shale revolution of the last 20 years, as shale formations' lack of porosity means current technology can only produce about 10% of the trapped oil, leading to a steep decline curve in production. A shale well's production drops precipitously over its first two years of life. Many are basically depleted within about five years.

In a January 2024 blog post, industry expert and researcher Art Berman concluded, "This is the beginning of the end for the Permian and other tight oil plays."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).