On 27 June 2025, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in the case of Cactus Water Services vs. COG Operating (ConocoPhillips) that the drilling company holds the contracted oil and gas lease in the Permian Basin and, therefore, owns the rights to the produced water as part of the mineral rights estate. The ruling establishes a legal framework designed to reduce investment risk, enabling producers and midstream companies to treat produced water as a strategic asset rather than a waste liability.
Despite political support from Washington, the U.S. energy sector (including midstream water) is facing intensifying global pressures that underscore the need for resilient, long-term strategies. In the first half of 2025, West Texas Intermediate crude prices fell by nearly 10% to US$68 per barrel. Following this decline, Saudi Arabia led OPEC+ to boost oil production by 2.5 million barrels per day between April and September, aiming to capture market share and apply further downward pressure on prices.
