CIR Editorial
State of U.S. Upstream: The 2026 Benchmarking Report
Every quarter, CIR benchmarks U.S. upstream across the metrics that actually matter: production volumes, rig count by basin, year-over-year trajectory, and the macro environment heading into the next period. This is the Q1 2026 edition.
Production: The January Reset
EIA data for January 2026 shows U.S.
One Year In: What CIR Got Right — And What We Missed
A year ago, CIR launched with a simple thesis: the U.S. upstream sector was entering a new phase — one defined not by production growth at any cost, but by capital discipline, consolidation, and the slow monetization of America's gas resource base. Twelve months later, it's
The Bakken at 20: Mature Basin Lessons for the Industry
The Bakken Shale's commercial development began in earnest around 2006–2008, when Continental Resources — under Harold Hamm's leadership — proved that horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing could unlock economic production from the tight Williston Basin formation. By 2026, the basin is roughly 18–20 years into large-
Natural Gas Producers: The Recovery Trade
Natural gas producers entered 2026 with something they hadn't felt in two years: pricing power. After Henry Hub spent most of 2024 below $2.50/MMBtu — touching sub-$2.00 in early 2024 — the commodity has recovered meaningfully heading into the 2025–2026 winter. The question now is
Permian Independents Q4 2025: Efficiency Wins, Portfolios Shift, and One That Won't Be Reporting Again
