For the past several years, the Permian Basin remained an area where vertical drilling was still the principle method of extraction, even as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing become ubiquitous in the Eagle Ford Shale, the Bakken, and other shale plays in the United States. However, horizontal drilling is on the rise in the Permian Basin, as well, according to new data by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Horizontal drilling began to increase in the Permian Basin early in 2013, the EIA said. By the end of 2013, oil extraction in the Permian accounted for half of the total increase in horizontal drilling in the United States. The rise in horizontal drilling in the Permian has seen that method of extraction overtake vertical drilling for some of the primary producers there. Apache Corp., perhaps the most active player in the Permian Basis, told Rigzone that as of early spring, […]