The Permian covers a 66,000 square mile area of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico and has over 500 major oil and gas fields. It is characterized by prolific, long-life oil and gas production from numerous formations found over a wide variety of depths.
Many formations respond to enhanced recovery techniques, such as waterflood projects.
In addition, the region is criss-crossed with multiple pipelines with easy access to many oil and gas markets. Acreage held by production from existing wells and large federal exploration units makes leases difficult to obtain. Most of Devon's position here was established through five major transactions. A significant portion of the company's natural gas reserves is in the San Juan Basin of northwest New Mexico and in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. The San Juan Basin covers a densely drilled 3,700 square mile area.