From 2020 to 2024, United States overall crude oil and lease condensate production rose by 1.9 million barrels a day (bpd) with 93% of that coming from just 10 New Mexican and Texas counties, a new Energy Information Administration (EIA) report said. The balance of U.S. production, including the producing areas in federal or state offshore waters, rose by just 130,000 bpd.
The 10 counties are located in the Permian basin, a massive geologic structure that spans 66 counties in Texas and New Mexico. Two of them, Eddy and Lea in New Mexico, accounted for nearly 1.0 million bpd of U.S. production growth (52%) in 2020-2024. Martin and Midland in Texas accounted for another 0.40 million bpd (21%). Six additional Texas counties-Andrews, Glasscock, Howard, Loving, Reagan, and Ward-combined grew by 0.36 million bpd (19%), Enverus' county-level production data stated.
Production of crude oil and lease condensate within the 10 counties averaged 4.8 million bpd in 2024, 37% of the country's production. The Bone Spring, Spraberry, and Wolfcamp formations are the top geologic units responsible for the rise within the 10 counties.
These rock units have been the leading drivers of oil production growth across the Permian basin and in the United States overall since 2020. Production of U.S. crude oil and natural gas from tight oil and shale gas reservoirs is documented in Table 10b of the Short-Term Energy Outlook.