Billy Helms
EOG Resources Inc at EOG Resources
Thanks Tim. I would like to first thank each of our employees for their accomplishments and execution last year. 2022 was a challenging year and the commitment and dedication of our employees remains steadfast as they delivered outstanding results. Last year can be characterized as a year of heightened inflation where we witnessed increasing commodity prices, accompanied by higher levels of activity across the industry. The result was a much tighter market for services, labor and suppliers. We were able to offset most of this inflation through efficiency gains and capital management across our portfolio to limit well cost increases to just 7%. For the full year, oil production was above the midpoint of guidance, while capital expenditures were $4.6 billion. We're only 2% above the original guidance midpoint said at the beginning of the year.
Our operating teams working throughout the company, leveraged efficiencies to help offset inflation. This is most evident in our core development plays, which sustain sufficient activity to support continued experimentation and innovation. In the Delaware Basin, we expanded use of our super zipper completion technique to increase treated lateral feet per day by 24%. In our Eagle Ford play, the completions team increased completed lateral feet per day about 14% and the amount of sand pumped per day per fleet by 27%.
Our decentralized operations team are our continually striving to improve performance and share learnings across our portfolio to limit well cost increases. These learnings are deployed in our emerging opportunity plays. For instance, in the Southern Powder River Basin Mowry play, the drilling team decreased drilling time by 10% with improved bid and drilling motor performance. In our South Texas Dorado gas play, the operations team reduced drilling time by 12%, through technical and operational advancements, they promise to continue to drive improvements in 2023.
Beyond cost reductions, a new completion design implemented last year in the Delaware Basin is realizing positive improvements in well performance in certain target reservoirs. This new design was tested in 26 wells last year and is yielding as much as an 18% uplift in estimated ultimate recovery. We're also making great progress towards our long-term ESG goals. Our wellhead gas capture rate exceeded 99.9% of the gross gas produced. And preliminary results indicate that we lowered GHG intensity and methane emissions percentages in 2022. We now have approximately 95% of our Delaware Basin production covered by iSense, our continuous methane monitoring technology.
Now turning to the 2023 plan. We forecast a $6 billion capital program to deliver 3% oil volume growth and 9% total production growth. We expect total volumes on a BOE basis to grow each quarter through the year. First quarter will show more growth in gas versus oil due to the well mix and timing of several Dorado gas wells that were completed late in the fourth quarter of last year. The plan can be summarized in the following four points. First, drilling rig and frac fleet activity in our core development programs, specifically, the Delaware Basin and the Eagle Ford will be relatively consistent with the fourth quarter of last year. The longer-term outlook for the Eagle Ford is to maintain the current production base where we have over a decade of continued opportunities to generate high returns and cash flow. After a decade of stellar operational improvements in the Eagle Ford, it has become a highly efficient, high-margin play with existing infrastructure and access to favorable markets.
In the Powder River Basin, the plan builds off last year's positive well results and infrastructure installation with an additional 20 Mowry completions. We expect to complete a few additional wells in our emerging Utica play in Ohio as we continue to delineate our acreage position and drill a few wells in the Bakken and DJ Basins. In Dorado, our plan is to achieve an activity level that creates economies of scale and develop a continuous program to allow for innovation that drives improved well performance and cost reductions. This results in a moderate increase in activity, completing about 10 additional wells versus last year. In Trinidad, a drilling rig is now scheduled to arrive in the third quarter, which is about a six-month delay. So international volumes decreased 60 million cubic-feet per day or 10,000 BOEs per day versus our earlier estimates. Overall, we increased activity in our emerging plays. The average EOG rig count for the year is expected to increase by about two rigs and one additional frac fleet.
Second, we have line-of-sight to efficiencies that we expect will limit additional inflation pressure on well cost to just 10% versus last year. Year-over-year increases in tubular cost as well as day rates for drilling rigs and frac fleets are the main drivers of the increase. As part of our contracting strategy, we staggered our agreements to secure a baseline of services and secure consistent execution. For this year, we have locked-in about 55% of our well cost, which is a similar level to previous years. Approximately 45% of our drilling rigs and 65% of our frac fleets needed for the year are covered under term agreements with multiple providers. By maintaining this consistent ways of services, we expect to find additional opportunities to drive performance improvements and eliminate downtime, thus potentially providing opportunity to offset some additional inflation.
Third, our 2023 capital program includes additional infrastructure investment. Typically, funding for facilities and other infrastructure projects comprises 15% to 20% of the capex budget and this year we expect that number to be closer to 20%. In Dorado, we commenced construction late last year on our new 36-inch gas pipeline from the field to the Agua Dulce sales point near Corpus Christi, Texas. This pipeline will help ensure long-term takeaway, fully capture the value chain from wellhead to the market center, help support expanded LNG export price exposures due to come online around 2026, and broaden our direct interstate pipeline capacity to reach markets along the entire Gulf Coast Corridor. We're also undertaking smaller infrastructure projects in other areas like the Utica to lower the long-term unit operating cost.
Fourth, we plan -- the plan includes capital there [Phonetic] represents the next steps towards our vision of being among the lowest emissions producers of oil and natural gas. Our first CCS project has begun injunction. And we will continue to explore opportunities to enhance our leadership position in environmentally prudent operations. These projects offer healthy returns while also providing reductions in long-life unit operating cost and lower emissions.
EOG remains focused on running the business for the long-term, generating high returns through disciplined growth, improving our resource base through organic exploration, improving our environmental footprint and investing in projects that will lower the future cost basis of the company. I am excited about 2023 and the opportunity it brings for our employees to further improve the company. Now here's Ken to review year end reserves and provide an inventory update.
