Finance: Investors Become Super-Bullish on Oil
Portfolio investors have piled into petroleum futures and options at the fastest rate since the first successful coronavirus vaccines were announced in late 2020.China’s exit from a zero-COVID strategy, along with hopes the global economy can avoid a recession and low oil inventories, have contributed to an extraordinary wave of buying…
Oil Outshines Stocks and Dollar in 2022
Oil prices are proving resilient to global economic recession fears and have outperformed major equity indices and the U.S. dollar so far this year as Western sanctions on Russia further limit supplies to an already tight market.The two major crude futures contracts are up about 30% so far this year, while the All Country World Index (ACWI) is down about 15%…
Rockhopper Reducing Headcount, Directors' Salaries
Oil and gas company Rockhopper, with a share in the Sea Lion project off the Falkland Islands, has announced a set of cost-cutting measures which include headcount reductions, and directors' salary reduction.The company said Tuesday that due to the "external events affecting the sector" - meaning low oil prices and the pandemic - it…
Equinor Raises $3.9 Bln in the Bond Market
Norwegian oil company Equinor raised $3.4 billion in euro and dollar bonds on Monday, in its latest push to secure long-term funding at a time of weak crude prices."In the current volatile market situation characterised by high uncertainty going forward, we see the value in further increasing our financial flexibility and resilience…
Rystad: Oilfield Services Firms' Market Cap Halved. Offshore Drillers Have it Worst
Oilfield services companies have collectively lost almost half of their market capitalization, hit by the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices, with offshore drillers, in particular, the most affected, Norway's Rystad Energy has said in its analysis released on Friday."It is widely acknowledged that the oilfield…
Transocean Disposing Of Two Semi-Submersibles
Offshore drilling contractor Transocean is disposing of a pair of floating drilling units, the ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig GSF Development Driller II, and the midwater semi-sub Transocean 712.The 2005-built GSF Development Driller has been stacked since 2016.According to the company's recent fleet status report, the 1983-built Transocean 712 was stacked in April 2020…
Saudi Arabia to Reduce Oil Production Further
Saudi Arabia will voluntarily deepen oil output cuts from June as low oil prices are causing huge pain to the kingdom's budget and global demand remains weak due to lockdowns to contain the coronavirus pandemic.The announcement by the kingdom to add 1 million barrels per day (bpd) - equal to 1% of global supply - to the previously announced cuts follows last week's phone conversation between U.S.
New Round of Layoffs at Maersk Drilling
Offshore drilling company Maersk Drilling has announced a new wave of layoffs and has revised its financial guidance for 2020, citing oil and gas companies' budget cuts and delays and cancellations in offshore drilling tenders.As previously reported, Maersk Drilling in April said it would lay off around 250-300 people in its North Sea crew pool…
Total Keeps Dividend Steady in 'Exceptional Circumstances'
French energy major Total promised to pay a steady cash dividend and said it can break even with low oil prices after the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and a collapse in fuel demand led to a 35% first-quarter profit fall.It also raised its climate ambitions, saying it aims to reach net-zero emissions from its operations and its energy products sold to customers by 2050 at the latest…
New Offshore Acreage Licensing to Drop 60% in 2020, Rystad says
Newly licensed offshore oil and gas exploration acreage is likely to fall by about 60% and onshore acreage by 30% compared with 2019 levels, Rystad Energy has said, as the Norwegian energy market analytics company expects more than half of the world’s planned licensing rounds to be canceled this year due to the combined effect of the…
Offshore Drillers to Lose $3B Due To COVID-19, Low Oil Prices
Offshore drillings contractors leasing drilling rigs to oil and gas companies are set to lose contracts worth $3 billion in combined revenue in 2020 and 2021, Rystad Energy said Thursday, citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices.According to Rystad, the estimated contract value in 2020–2021 is $30 billion in total; $20 billion in 2020 and $10 billion in 2021.
Key Offshore Wildcat Wells At Risk of Being Suspended
At least nine of the world’s top planned exploration wells for 2020 are at risk of being suspended as a result of the blended impact of COVID-19 on oil and gas activities and the oil price war, Rystad Energy said Tuesday.These wells, the Norwegian energy intelligence firm said, located in Norway, Brazil, the Bahamas, Guyana, the US…
Oil Economics: Freight Rate Surge Cuts into Trader's Profits
A jump in freight rates has shaved profits for oil traders seeking to store crude for sale towards the end of the year, even as the contango in the first six months for Brent futures stretched to its widest ever, trade sources said.While a sharp rebound in spot crude differentials could lift traders' profits, a broadening slump in…
Brent, WTI Fall as Coronavirus Spreads
Brent fell by 10% on Monday, and U.S. crude to below $30, as emergency rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and its global counterparts failed to tame markets and China's factory output plunged at the sharpest pace in 30 years amid the spread of coronavirus.Brent crude was down $3.58, or 10.6%, to $30.27 a barrel by 1231 GMT. The front-month price had risen $1 earlier in the session.U.S.
GoM Oil Output Set for Record Year
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is positioned for another year of record oil production in 2020, despite massive cuts in investment.According to Rystad Energy, most of this growth coming from deep water projects.“2020 is expected to be another record year with average production above 1.9 million barrels per day,” says Joachim Milling Gregersen…
ORCA Hub Readies Drones for Offshore Energy
A consortium of five universities, including Heriot-Watt University, working with 35 industrial and innovation partners, has unveiled the latest results from its research collaboration.The largest academic center in the world for research into robotics technology for offshore energy infrastructure, the ORCA Hub’s aim is to advance robotics and Artificial Intelligence technologies for the inspection…
Saudi Aramco Pursues IPO Planning Despite Attack
Saudi Aramco is pressing ahead with its listing plans this week, although some investors and analysts doubt it can now meet its timeline as it has not said when oil output will be restored after attacks on its facilitiesReuters has reported it could take months for Aramco, the world's biggest oil firm, to restore output after Saturday's attacks…
Oil Majors Rush to Dominate US Shale
In New Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert, Exxon Mobil Corp is building a massive shale oil project that its executives boast will allow it to ride out the industry's notorious boom-and-bust cycles.Workers at its Remuda lease near Carlsbad - part of a staff of 5,000 spread across New Mexico and Texas - are drilling wells, operating fleets…
Aker BP Raises Dividend, Q4 Profit Lags
Norwegian oil company Aker BP posted a smaller-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter earnings due to higher production costs and lower oil prices, but raised its dividend.The company said on Wednesday earnings before interest and taxes rose to $403 million from $305 million in the same quarter a year earlier, lagging the $491 million…
Shell Appoints Sawan as Upstream Boss
Royal Dutch Shell has appointed Wael Sawan to head its oil and gas production division, replacing Andy Brown who will step down after 35 years at the Anglo-Dutch company.Sawan, 44, a Canadian citizen of Lebanese origin, currently heads Shell's deepwater operations, one of the company's cash growth engines in recent years. He joined Shell in 1997.Brown…
