While Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin is not the premiere shale play for oil and gas production in the U.S., that honor belongs to the Permian Basin, the Anadarko remains a vibrant production of energy.
The merger this week of Devon Energy with Coterra Energy raised the question whether the combined company might make a renewed focus on Oklahoma.
The Anadarko remains an active region for exploration by both Coterra Energy and Devon Energy. So does it raise the possibility the newly-formed company might make more investments in the play?
Devon Energy’s Clay Gaspar, President, CEO and Director talked about it early Monday morning during a conference call to announce the merger.
“Yes. I think Anadarko is having a new day. There’s been a lot of private equity excitement and investment. Certainly, with the gas bid that’s coming really helps the economics there. I think combining the companies, the positions, there’ll be those operational synergies that happen. Right now, we have trucks passing on the road so to speak. We have infrastructure. We have midstream relationships in common. I think that will really unlock the real potential there.
Too early to say that we’re going to rededicate a significant amount of capital, I don’t want to indicate that. I just think there’s real upside value creation for that asset. Look forward to those teams constructively working together and to build something combined that’s greater than the individuals.”
The Anadarko has seen a steady amount of drilling activity in the past few years and as the oil and gas industry entered 2026, the rig numbers in western Oklahoma have not declined compared to other plays around the U.S.
As OK Energy Today has reported, Oklahoma’s rig count increased by 3 in the past week with a 5-rig gain in the Cana Woodford where the total reached 22 drilling rigs.