The oil patch has few secrets.
鈥淢y career experiences taught me that there are no secrets in the oil field, and if you find something that works, good luck keeping it secret for more than a few weeks before people finally figure it out,鈥� Lance Robertson, former Endeavor Energy Resources CEO, said during SPE鈥檚 Permian Basin Energy Conference (PBEC) in Midland, Texas.


While much may be kept proprietary, talking and sharing is common. In October, operators came together at the PBEC to share how they are working to better produce the basin鈥檚 shale reservoirs.
Jye Collins, Texas asset manager, Midland upstream with Chevron, said during a plenary focused on the Midland Basin that there 鈥渞eally are no secrets鈥� in the Permian.
鈥淓veryone knows what鈥檚 going on pretty quickly in the Permian in the Midland Basin,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey say imitation is the best form of flattery, and I say Midland鈥檚 full of a lot of flattery because everybody鈥檚 looking over their shoulder to see what everyone鈥檚 doing.鈥�
One of Chevron鈥檚 major focuses in the area is on keeping the Midland Basin going through the next evolution of west Texas energy.
The operator鈥檚 development strategy has evolved as the industry has learned what does and doesn鈥檛 work across the Permian. Those learnings, he noted, have led to more efficiencies.
鈥淓fficiency has been a major part of the Midland Basin story, a major part of Chevron鈥檚 story, whether we鈥檙e talking about feet per day, dollar per foot unit, OPEX, efficiency has been a big component,鈥� he said.
One efficiency, he said, has been moving from simulfrac operations to triple fracture, or trimulfrac, operations.
