U.S. Oil Drillers Are Going Electric—and Hitting Speed Bumps
January 29, 2024
In the country’s busiest oil field, frackers are devouring nearly as much electricity as four Seattles every day—and they are clamoring for more.
Diamondback Energy, a major producer in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, has increasingly relied on the electric grid to power its crude harvesting. But as the driller’s oil production has grown nearly 50 times in the past 10 years, the grid has struggled to handle this new demand, prompting Diamondback to set up its own power network to cut its use of natural-gas-fired generators.
