Coterra Energy maintains Permian rig counts as fears about the oil market ease

Coterra Energy, an oil and gas company in the United States, will keep its Permian basin rig count at nine, said CEO Tom Jorden on Tuesday. This reverses earlier plans to reduce activity, as the firm becomes more confident about the outlook of oil prices.

Coterra announced in May that it would reduce the number of Permian rigs to seven in the second half 2025, down from the original plan of 10. This will result in a $150 million reduction in capital expenditure in the basin.

This decision was influenced by the oil price declines and macroeconomic uncertainties.

Jorden spoke at the J.P. Morgan Energy, Power & Renewables Conference. "I have seen periods in my career when oil markets wobble, but they don't just glide down to their lowest point, they wobble for a little while, then suddenly collapse," he said.

We were considering the possibility of collapse. "We're feeling better about it now."

The oil prices were under pressure in the first half of this year because of concerns over slowing demand worldwide, high inventories and uncertainty surrounding OPEC+'s supply cuts. (Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Alan Barona)

(source: Reuters)