Eying Strong Year-End Prices, US Oil Firms Accelerate Activity: Fed Survey

A drilling crew member raises drill pipe onto the drilling rig floor on an oil rig in the Permian Basin near Wink, Texas, on Aug. 22, 2018. Nick Oxford/Reuters

Activity in the oil and gas sector accelerated in the first quarter as company outlooks improved, according to a survey of oil executives released on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

U.S. crude will sell for an average of $93 a barrel by the end of the year and natural gas prices at the largest U.S. hub will average $4.57 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), according to the survey of oil executives from Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico.