Despite the Eagle Ford’s production and prospects, the big oil play in Texas could end up being in the Permian Basin. The legacy West Texas oil basin could hold enough oil to make it the second-largest oil field in the world. There are estimates that the Sparberry/Wolfcamp portion alone could produce upwards of a million barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of the decade:
Source: Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) Investor Presentation
That potential has a company like Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) seeing a future that includes drilling more than 40,000 wells to capture over 9 billion barrels of potential oil equivalent production. That’s $900 billion of potential oil in the ground for this $22 billion company. While it will cost a lot of money to get the oil out of the ground, it still makes for a very compelling investment opportunity.
Don’t forget about the Gulf of Mexico
Last, but certainly not least is the Gulf of Mexico. It was once thought that the BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP) disaster in 2010 would turn off oil production in the Gulf for good. However, after three years of production declines, the Gulf is poised to not only rebound, but could double its production over the next few years:
Source: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) Investor Presentation
That’s good news for producers like BP, as well as a variety of service companies like Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD). The company is one of the many that are providing the region with infrastructure critical to get the oil from production platforms to the Gulf Coast refining complexes. One of its projects, the Lucius Crude Oil Export Pipeline, will move 115,000 barrels of oil per day from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to refiners. This is just one of the many solutions that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) is providing producers in the Gulf, which will help to give a really solid return to investors as the oil boom continues.
Final Foolish thoughts
I’ve really only scratched the surface of our oil potential. There are new shale plays emerging, and potential shale plays yet to be discovered, that have the potential to produce game-changing amounts of oil during the coming decade. This coming oil boom has the potential to build wealth for those who are invested before it really shifts into high gear.
As you can see, record oil and natural gas production is revolutionizing the United States’ energy position. Finding the right plays while historic amounts of capital expenditures are flooding the industry will pad your investment nest egg.
The article Here’s How You Can Profit From the United States’ Oil Boom originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Matt DiLallo owns shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners L.P. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2014 $20 calls on Chesapeake Energy, long January 2014 $30 calls on Chesapeake Energy, and short January 2014 $15 puts on Chesapeake Energy.
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