For a company whose growth story has run through the Delaware Basin for the better part of a decade, EOG's Q2 2026 earnings call put the Utica front and center. CEO Ezra Yacob said most of this year's oil growth traces back to the Encino acquisition, which he called "a home run," and that volume growth is coming mostly out of the Utica. The same holds in the three-year plan, where the Utica and Delaware carry low-single-digit oil growth except the Delaware is down slightly this year and modeled as flat to moderate after that. For a basin most people still associate with Appalachian gas, it has quietly become EOG's oil growth engine. With a whopping 1.1 million net acres, the Utica is set to become the leader in EOG's portfolio (See map below).
Source: EOG
Elsewhere, Delaware drilling feet per day is up 13% with direct well costs under $710 per foot. Eagle Ford costs are down to less than $525 per foot, the lowest in EOG's history in the basin and wells targeting the Dorado play around Webb County cut costs by 7% while increasing laterals 16%. The company also highlighted a new Austin Chalk "sweet spot" in Lavaca County, with 60,000 net acres leased at about $1,200 per acre and a breakeven below $65 WTI, noting it comes with more associated gas than the core Eagle Ford.
The 300 MMcf/d Janus processing plant in the Delaware Basin online since last year, is now running above 99% utilization. COO Jeff Leitzell said Janus can be expanded by another 300 MMcf/d, but with processing fees now flat and 4-6 Bcf/d of new Permian takeaway starting up in the back half of 2026, Leitzell said "We can kind of utilize it and leverage it to play the market...then we can lean in on that and invest in strategic infrastructure to reduce our overall fees and GP&T" (gathering processing and treating costs).
