With Ovintiv Inc. scooping up three EnCap-backed drillers in the core Midland Basin, public E&Ps have fewer places to look to add quality inventory runway, analysts say.
The Permian led the nation in drilling rig activity in the past year, with data showing much of that growth coming from large, public upstream operators as private companies such as CrownQuest Operating, Iskandia Energy and Mack Energy have downshifted.