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permian basin

The Permian Basin extends throughout southwest Texas and southeast New Mexico and is one of the largest and most active oil basins in the United States, with the entire basin accounting for approximately 18 percent of the total United States oil production. Oxy is the largest producer in the Permian Basin with an approximate 16-percent net share of the total Permian Basin oil production. Oxy also produces and processes natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the Permian Basin.

Most of Oxy's Permian Basin interests were obtained through the acquisition of Altura in 2000. In 2005 and 2006, Oxy made several additional acquisitions of oil and gas producing property related to the acquisition of Vintage and the property acquisitions from Plains), respectively.

Oxy's total share of Permian Basin oil, gas and NGL production averaged 199,000 BOE per day in 2006 compared to 189,000 BOE per day in 2005. At the end of 2006, Oxy's Permian Basin properties had 1.2 billion BOE in proved reserves.

During 2006, Oxy drilled approximately 260 wells on its operated properties and participated in wells drilled on outside operated interests. Oxy conducted significant development activity on eight carbon dioxide (CO2) projects during 2006, including implementation of new floods and expansion of existing CO2 floods.

Oxy also focused on improving the performance of existing wells. Oxy had an average of 122 well service units working in the Permian area during 2006 performing well maintenance and workovers. Approximately 60 percent of Oxy’s Permian Basin oil production is from fields that actively employ the application of CO2 flood technology, an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. This involves injecting CO2 into oil reservoirs where it acts as a solvent, causing the oil to flow more freely into producing wells. These CO2 flood operations make Oxy a world leader in the application of this technology.