Crude oil output: public firms produce 68% of Lower 48 supply

Item (2025)	Figure
Share of ~12,000 US producers that are public	2%
Public share of Lower 48 oil and gas output	68%
Operators with 10 or fewer wells	64%
Output per well, 12 largest operators	69 boe/d average
Haynesville private-company share of output	55%
Top five private gas operators, Haynesville	5.8 Bcf/d (38%)
Top five private oil producers, Haynesville	10,000 b/d (30%)

WASHINGTON - A small group of publicly traded companies dominates U.S. oil and gas output, according to a Sept. 22 analysis from the Energy Information Administration. In 2025 public companies made up 2% of about 12,000 crude oil and natural gas producers but accounted for 68% of Lower 48 production, measured in barrels of oil equivalent.

Scale behind US crude oil production

EIA, using data from Enverus, said the edge comes from scale, prime drilling locations and advanced technology. Public companies generally report lower breakeven prices, the minimum needed to cover operating costs, than private operators, partly because their acreage yields higher volumes and partly because their size lowers unit costs.

The concentration is steep at the top. The 12 firms with the most wells are less than 1% of all companies, yet each operates between 10,000 and more than 50,000 wells, producing an average of 69 barrels of oil equivalent per day per well. At the other end, 64% of operators have 10 or fewer wells, nearly all stripper wells producing under 15 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Regional split

Of the five major producing regions in the Lower 48, public companies hold the largest share in Appalachia and the Permian. In Appalachia they produce nearly five times as much oil and gas as private companies while making up only 1% of active operators. In the Permian, in New Mexico and Texas, they are 3% of active operators and produce four times as much as private firms.

The exception is the Haynesville, which straddles Texas and Louisiana and is the only major region where private companies produce the majority, 55%, of oil and natural gas. Output there is concentrated among the largest private operators. The top five private gas producers alone supplied 38% of regional gas output, or 5.8 billion cubic feet per day, and the top five private oil producers accounted for 30% of the region’s crude, at 10,000 barrels per day.

Why it matters for commodity prices

Who produces the barrels shapes how supply responds when prices move. EIA’s analysis does not forecast production or prices, and it makes no statement on drilling plans. Its message is structural: a small share of companies holds most of the volume, with private firms holding the main share only in the Haynesville gas basin.