LONDON, September 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The Permian basin, now the nation's most productive, is churning out ever-increasing volumes of crude. As of September 2014, the Permian is producing 1.7 million barrels per day [http://online.wsj.com/articles/permian-basin-in-texas-to-drive-down-oil-prices-1409613682 ] (bpd), much more than more well-known oil producing areas like North Dakota's Bakken or South Texas' Eagle Ford.

The Permian is king, even if the rest of the world doesn't know it.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) just broke ground [http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2014/08/oxy-building-600-employee-office-to-serve-permian.html ] on a major satellite office it is building in Midland, TX. The location is not random. Midland sits in the heart of the Permian basin and Oxy's new office will house 600 employees.

It is not just big players like Oxy making strides in the Permian. Scrappy companies like Crude Energy LLC [http://www.crude.com ] are also making progress. Crude Energy, a small independent oil and gas exploration company, is sitting on prime acreage in the Permian.

And Crude Energy just announced that it has participated in the spudding of a well in the Permian. Crude Energy's White Wolf #1 prospect [http://www.crude.com/crude-energy-announces-availability-white-wolf-prospect-sterling-county-tx ] , based in the Permian, is about 640 acres.

The well began spudding on September 11, targeting the highly prized Wolfcamp formation. Crude Energy's White Wolf #1 project will see drilling to a total depth of 9,200 feet, with the Lower Wolfcamp formation beginning at 7,200 feet. Along the way there are multiple payzones, and Crude Energy will also target the Cisco, Canyon, Cline, Strawn, Mississippian, Fusselman, Montoya and Ellenburger formations.

Drilling will take about 12 days to reach its lowest depth, and well completion and testing will take place in 30 days.

"As promised, Crude Energy is moving forward on the White Wolf #1 well, a potentially liquids rich prospect that we feel will fuel growth in our portfolio," Crude Energy's CEO Parker Hallam said in a statement. "We should have preliminary test data in a matter of weeks, and we are confident that White Wolf will pay off many times over."

Crude Energy and its competitors in the basin have good reason to feel confident - the Permian basin is showing no signs of slowing down.

"You're definitely going to hit the 2 million barrel mark," Bob Reeves, CEO of Athlon Energy (NYSE: ATHL), another Permian explorer, said at a conference, according to the Wall Street Journal [http://online.wsj.com/articles/permian-basin-in-texas-to-drive-down-oil-prices-1409613682 ] . "I think it's not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when."

By James Burgess of Oilprice.com [http://oilprice.com ]

SOURCE Oilprice.com