The business activity index in the energy firms operating in Texas, northern Louisiana, and southern New Mexico jumped in the second quarter to the highest level in six years, but costs continue to escalate and supply chain delays are worsening, the Dallas Fed Energy Survey showed on Thursday. Activity in the oil and gas sector in the most prolific U.S. shale basin, the Permian, expanded at a robust pace in the second quarter, with the business activity index—the survey’s broadest measure of conditions facing energy firms—up from 56.0 in the first quarter to 57.7, registering its highest reading in the survey’s six-year history, the Dallas Fed said. For a sixth quarter in a row, costs have risen this quarter, according to the survey of oil and gas executives at 85 exploration and production firms and 52 oilfield services firms. The index for input costs at the oilfield services companies […]