Permian Basin oil production crushes 1973 records

[thackney]

Permian Basin oil production crushes 1973 records
http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Permian-Basin-oil-production-crushes-1973-records-12456113.php

Operators have pumped more barrels of oil out of West Texas’ prolific Permian Basin than ever before.

Permian production hit 815 million barrels in 2017, blowing past the previous record of 790 million barrels set in 1973, business research firm IHS Markit said on Tuesday.

“The magnitude of the rebound in Permian Basin liquids production is unprecedented,” analyst Reed Olmstead said in a report. “Not so long ago, many in the industry were saying the Permian was dead.”

In 1973, operators pumped an average of 2.16 million barrels of oil and gas liquids per day. Permian volumes this year will average 2.75 million barrels per day, IHS said, a rise of more than 25 percent or almost 600,000 barrels per day....

[thackney]

https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/permian.pdf

November 2017, Drilled but uncompleted wells (DUC)
Permian = 2,613   

[the_doc]

Weren't a lot of wells simply capped back in the 1980s? 

[thackney]

Weren't a lot of wells simply capped back in the 1980s?

A well cannot legally just be capped or shut-in indefinitely.  After a period of time if not used it must be plugged, filled with cement.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Weren't a lot of wells simply capped back in the 1980s?

Not really.  They were simply shutin when oil prices plummeted below $10/B.  Economics could not support producing marginal wells that could not recoup their operating expenses.  Majors at the time were beginning to question the wisdom of operating in such a mature area and began planning departing a lot of their acreage which accelerated during the 90s. 

This caused the rise of a number of independents who seized the Permain acreage and exploited it as the 'Big Boys' left for other pastures, mostly in Offshore basins around the world.

The Permian became staples for companies like Occidental, Anadarko and Apache, among others.

Now the majors are returning to concentrate upon the basin they had left years ago.