It’s true, the Permian is — and will likely remain — the center of attention in the U.S. oil and gas industry, not just for its massive and still-growing production volumes but also for the ongoing consolidation among producers in the West Texas/southeastern New Mexico play. But while the Permian has dominated production and M&A activity the past couple of years, Chevron’s recently announced $7.6 billion acquisition of Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin-focused PDC Energy highlights the potential for producers to generate significant production and profits from other major U.S. regions, including the Rocky Mountains. In today’s RBN blog, we analyze Chevron’s latest mega-deal and its impacts on the buyer, seller, and the broader oil and gas industry.
Canadian crude output is rising, requiring new export routes. As traditional pathways face constraints, the U.S. Rockies—especially the Guernsey, WY hub—are emerging as key corridors for moving Canadian heavy crude to downstream markets, including the Gulf Coast.
In an iconic 1976 New Yorker magazine cover (see photo below), artist Saul Steinberg illustrated how New Yorkers see the rest of the world, filling two-thirds of the page with a block-by-block view west from Manhattan’s 9th Avenue to the Hudson River, then fading to a narrow strip of land representing New Jersey through Los Angeles before blending into the Pacific Ocean. Tiny hills on the distant horizon show China, Japan and Russia. His point: To a New Yorker, nothing west of the Hudson really matters. A complementary 2023 representation of Permian-focused coverage of the U.S. oil and gas industry would show West Texas and southeastern New Mexico up front, dominant and in detail, with other unconventional plays just minor, unimportant points in the distance.
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About the song
“Rocky Mountain High” was written by John Denver and Mike Taylor and appears on Denver’s sixth studio album of the same name. The Milt Okun-produced single was recorded in August 1972 and released in October of that year. It rose to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary charts. The song was inspired by Denver’s move to Aspen, CO, in the late 1960s, and his love for the state. It is one of Colorado’s two official state songs, the other being “Where the Columbines Grow.” (Denver wrote another official state song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” one of four state songs of West Virginia.)
John Denver (Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.) was an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. He released 25 studio albums, sold over 33 million records worldwide, and has 12 gold and four platinum records. His career took off when his “Leaving on a Jet Plane” became a #1 hit for Peter, Paul and Mary on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. Denver has won one American Country Music Award, two Country Music Association Awards, one Emmy and two Grammys. He was selected poet laureate of Colorado in 1977, and inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996. Denver died in a plane crash in 1997.
