The growth of shale gas drilling in the Permian Basin is slowing, according to Schlumberger, Halliburton and Weir Group, a Financial Times article has reported. In its latest quarterly report, released on Tuesday, Schlumberger said that U.S. natural gas production fell by about 1 percent from January through March, compared with an increase of 2 percent for all of 2016. Also, new wells drilled in the Permian are proving less productive than original wells, and US tariffs on steel are making exploratory work and infrastructure investment more expensive.
The growth of shale gas drilling in the Permian Basin is slowing, according to Schlumberger, Halliburton and Weir Group, a Financial Times article has reported. The slowdown is attributed mainly to a shortage of pipeline capacity to carry the oil to Gulf of Mexico export ports, but also increased labour and equipment costs, as well as difficulties in disposing of waste water and natural gas. Also, new wells drilled in the Permian are proving less productive than original wells, and US tariffs on steel are making exploratory work and infrastructure investment more expensive.