Oilfield Services Firms Keane, C&J Merge
Oilfield services company Keane Group Inc said on Monday it will merge with rival C&J Energy Services in a $745.7 million all-stock deal, as it looks for scale amid spending cuts by crude producers.The oil service sector has been battling lower demand and pricing pressure as U.S. producers hold off drilling new wells on investor demand that cash be used for dividends and buybacks rather than growth.The deal is expected to add to cash flow immediately…
Sempra Names Bilicic Group President
Sempra Energy on Monday announced that George W. Bilicic has been named group president, effective upon completion of his service at Lazard later this year. Bilicic will lead the company's strategy, corporate development, and legal activities, reporting to Jeffrey W. Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy.Bilicic is currently a vice chairman of investment banking with Lazard Ltd, a New York-based investment banking firm.
Tidewater and GulfMark Announce Merger
Tidewater Inc. and GulfMark Offshore, Inc. announced Monday that the boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved a definitive agreement to combine the two companies, creating the industry’s largest owner of offshore support vessels and continuing consolidation in the offshore sector.The combined company will be operated under the Tidewater brand and will be led by Tidewater president and CEO John Rynd…
LyondellBasel Valued Braskem at $11.4 billion
LyondellBasell Industries has valued Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem SA at 41.5 billion reais ($11.4 billion) in an offer to Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA months ago, newspaper Valor Econômico reported on Thursday. LyondellBasell made the offer in February but talks stalled in early May, the paper reported, as the conglomerate tries to refinance its debt with Brazilian lenders. The paper did not say how it obtained the information.
Congo Seeks Debt Relief From Trading Houses
IMF pushing Congo to renegotiate debt; loans primarily came from Trafigura, Glencore. Congo Republic is set to become the latest African country to start debt relief talks with trading houses after borrowing $2 billion from merchants such as Trafigura and Glencore but now finding its debt levels unsustainable, sources familiar with the matter said. Trading houses regularly lend money to resource-rich clients in financial distress - be it countries such as Congo…
Venezuela Bondholders Mull Alliances
Holders of Venezuelan bonds are meeting with each other and considering forming committees, advisers and fund managers told Reuters, as questions mount about the feasibility of President Nicolas Maduro's proposal to restructure $60 billion of debt. Maduro has said the country will keep servicing its obligations for now. But bondholders ranging from longstanding investment funds to hedge funds…
US Solar Industry's Growth Region: Trump Country
President Donald Trump's administration has vowed to revive the coal industry, challenged climate-change science and blasted renewable energy as expensive and dependent on government subsidies. And yet the solar power industry is booming across Trump country, fueled by falling development costs and those same subsidies, which many Republicans in Congress continue to support. Data provided to Reuters by GTM Research…
Shell to Shed Iraqi Oil Assets
Royal Dutch Shell is set to end a century of oil production in Iraq by withdrawing from two of the Arab state's flagship fields to focus on more profitable gas development. Shell's retreat highlights the challenges foreign operators face with low-margin oil contracts in Iraq, an OPEC member that sits on some of the world's biggest oil reserves and wants to boost production after years of conflict hindered development.
Sempra Energy to buy Oncor for $9.45 bln
Sempra Energy said it will buy Oncor for $9.45 billion in cash after Energy Future Holdings Corp, which indirectly owns Oncor, abandoned a deal to sell the power transmission company to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. San Diego-based Sempra expects to own about 60 percent of a reorganized Energy Future after the transaction that is valued at $18.8 billion, including Dallas-based Oncor's debt, it said late on Sunday.
Energy Capital-led Consortium to buy Calpine Corp
Debt-laden power producer Calpine Corp said it agreed to be acquired by a consortium of investors led by Energy Capital Partners for $5.6 billion. Calpine's shares were up 10.5 percent at $14.93 in premarket trading on Friday. The $15.25 cash per share offer, represents a 13 percent premium to Calpine's closing price on Thursday. The consortium includes billionaire industrialist Leonard Blavatnik's Access Industries and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. U.S.
European Oil Majors Enter U.S. Offshore Wind Markets
Statoil, Shell, DONG Energy turn to U.S. offshore wind; oil firms bring big budgets, offshore tech and risk experience. Some European oil majors have made inroads into the emerging U.S. offshore wind energy market, aiming to leverage their experience of deepwater development and the crowded offshore wind arena at home. Late entrants to the offshore wind game in Europe, which began with a project off Denmark 25 years ago and is now approaching maturity…
Shell Reluctant to Part with California Refinery amid Asset Sale
Royal Dutch Shell is in talks with several potential buyers for its refinery outside of San Francisco, but the Anglo-Dutch oil giant is reluctant to part with its last asset in California, three people familiar with the process say. The company is in the midst of a massive asset sale, shedding properties from Thailand to the North Sea to pay down debt following its $54 billion purchase of smaller British rival BG Group last year.
Oil Majors Look to Shed Refineries
Chevron solicits interest in Burnaby, British Columbia refinery; Shell seeks buyer for Martinez, California plant. Global oil majors Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are putting small refineries on the auction block as they look to trim lower-margin assets in the face of headwinds from rising crude oil prices. Chevron, the second largest U.S. oil company, is soliciting interest in its Burnaby, British Columbia, refinery and gasoline stations, the company told Reuters.
Total Explores Partnership for Port Arthur Refinery Logistics Assets
French oil and gas company Total said on Thursday that it was exploring a partnership deal for the logistics part of its 225,000 barrels-per-day Port Arthur refinery in the United States and had been in talks in the last year with potential investors. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Total had decided not to sell a 50 percent stake in the refinery almost a year after it retained investment bank Lazard to advise on the deal.
Total No Longer Seeking Buyer for Texas Refinery Stake
Total SA has decided not to sell a 50 percent stake in its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery almost a year after it retained investment bank Lazard to advise on the deal, according to three people familiar with the matter. The move is a shift for Total, which has considered selling refineries over the last several years. The company is not currently planning to sell any additional refineries, the people said.
DONG Energy Shares Jump after European IPO
Shares in DONG Energy jumped more than 10 percent on Thursday after the Danish utility and wind farm developer pulled off Europe's biggest stock market flotation this year. Analysts said the strong debut, coupled with a move by shareholders in E.ON to back the German utility's retreat from fossil fuel, showed investors were growing in confidence about the future for renewable energy as technologies improve and governments commit to curbing carbon emissions.
Seventy Seven Energy Files for Bankruptcy
Oilfield services company Seventy Seven Energy Inc filed for a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday to carry out a plan to convert $1.1 billion of its debt into equity in a reorganized company. Seventy Seven offers drilling and hydraulic fracturing services and was spun out of Chesapeake Energy Corp in 2014. The company said its creditors have already voted overwhelmingly in favor its plan, a process known as a prepackaged bankruptcy.
Seventy Seven Energy to File for Bankruptcy Amid Oil Slump
Oilfield services company Seventy Seven Energy Inc said it intended to file for a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on or before May 26, the latest energy company to seek bankruptcy protection amid a prolonged oil price slump. The company, which was spun off from Chesapeake Energy Corp in 2014, said it had entered into a restructuring agreement with certain lenders that would allow it to convert about $1.1 billion of its debt into equity.
Breitburn Skips Interest Payment as it Reviews Strategic Options
Breitburn Energy Partners LP said it has decided to suspend distributions on preferred units and defer interest payments as the company was in talks with secured debtholders. The oil and gas master limited partnership is the latest among a wave of cash-strapped companies skipping interest payments as they seek to restructure debt to weather a prolonged slump in crude prices. Breitburn said…
LPC: Energy Companies Drain Loans Before Banks Clamp Down
Troubled US energy companies, maneuvering for stronger negotiating positions if filing for bankruptcy, are racing to tap cash still available under existing reserve-based loan commitments before banks cut their credit access next month. In April, lenders, in semi-annual valuations of oil and gas reserves backing these loans, are expected to cut available credit to many energy companies based on deeply depressed collateral prices.
