Permian U-turns hit 1,584 bopd
Plus: EIA's record crude call, a $2.55B pipeline shakeup, and Utica's newest player
🔥 The Big One
Summit's U-Turn Laterals Average 1,584 Bopd in Upton County
Midland-based Summit Petroleum just posted average initial production of 1,584 barrels a day across five U-turn lateral wells in Upton County, with a 10-well program (seven curved, three straight) stacked across Jo Mill, Wolfcamp and Spraberry zones. Each well runs 21,000 feet deep, and Summit beat its own budget, averaging 20 days spud-to-rig-release against a 23-day target. That's real completions and drilling crew work sitting right next to acreage EOG hasn't touched yet, meaning more activity could follow if EOG moves.
Read the full breakdown →✍️ Editor's Take
Record crude output, a U-turn well program beating its own schedule, and Ranger buying its way into the No. 2 coiled tubing slot all point to one thing: the Permian is where the labor and equipment demand is concentrating right now. Meanwhile steel, copper and switchgear costs are up double digits, which means margins on data center and grid work are getting squeezed even as capacity chases AI power demand. If you're bidding completions or coiled tubing work in West Texas, price it now. If you're bidding electrical or civil packages tied to data centers, build in escalation clauses.
— FieldNews Staff
This Week in 60 Seconds
- EIA Calls Record 13.8M b/d for 2026
Permian output alone is forecast at 6.8 million b/d, up 3% and well above breakeven costs.
- Ranger Buys STEP's Coiled Tubing Fleet for $27.5M
13 spreads change hands, making Ranger the No. 2 coiled tubing player in the Permian and Bakken.
- Enbridge Grabs Tallgrass in $2.55B Pipeline Play
Enbridge now controls Pony Express and Powder River Gateway, reshaping midstream work from the DJ to Cushing.
- Grenadier's Utica Wells Come In Hot in Belmont County
Three wells averaged near 20,000 mcf/d and a five-well pad is already drilling toward year-end startup.
- South Korea Bets $22.3B on Texas Gas Plant
A 6.3 GW plant to feed AI data centers marks the first project under the new U.S. trade deal.
📍 Where the Work Is
- Permian Basin, TX 🔥 HOT — Summit's U-turn laterals, Ranger's coiled tubing buy, Net Power's 123 MW rights deal and EIA's record output forecast all point the same direction: more rigs, more completions.
- Texas Gulf Coast — Bechtel just hit substantial completion on Cheniere's Corpus Christi LNG expansion while South Korea's $22.3B gas plant and Fluidstack's $4B data center campus stack up more EPC work.
- Alberta, Canada — Suncor is shifting Base Plant from mining to SAGD by 2036 and Enhance Energy broke ground on Canada's largest carbon capture hub, both multi-year build programs.
- Eastern Ohio (Utica) — Grenadier Energy Partners entered the Utica with strong Belmont County wells and is already drilling a five-well pad.
- Northeast Corridor — Amtrak's $6B Baltimore tunnel program is hitting milestones ahead of 2028 boring, and Team Fishel just closed a 14-mile granite fiber bore in Maryland.
🟢 Open Windows
Bids, packages, and decisions with a clock on them.
October 2026
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Infrastructure Overhaul — $634M NAVFAC power/water contract begins construction, running through Dec 2031.Year-end 2026
Ksi Lisims LNG — BC grid construction underway now with a final investment decision targeted by year-end.Year-end 2026
Grenadier's Sylvester Antolak Pad — Five-well Utica pad in Belmont County, Ohio targeted for year-end startup.
👷 Crew Market: US oil and gas extraction jobs rose from 114,700 to 114,900 in August, a rare gain, while Canada's equipment dealers are short 1,263 technicians, draining CA$803M a year.
📈 The Number
13.8 million b/d
EIA's record 2026 crude output forecast leans hard on the Permian, which alone is pegged at 6.8 million b/d. That's sustained rig and completions demand for anyone working West Texas.
EIA / Oil & Gas Journal
On Your Radar
- Sep 13-16AREMA Annual Conference — Kansas City, MO
- Sep 14-16NSC Safety Congress & Expo — Indianapolis, IN
- Sep 21-25International Pipeline Conference & Expo — Calgary, AB
- Sep 22-24SPE Permian Basin Energy Conference — Midland, TX
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