Exxon in Advanced Talks for $60B Acquisition of Pioneer - Sources
Exxon Mobil is in advanced talks to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources in a deal that could value the Permian shale basin producer at about $60 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The acquisition would be Exxon's biggest since its $81 billion deal for Mobil in 1998 and would expand its footprint in one of the most lucrative regions of the U.S. oil patch.Pioneer's shares rose nearly 12% to $240.47 in premarket trading on Friday while Exxon slipped 1.7%.Pioneer…
Oil Drillers, Bitcoin Miners Bond over Natural Gas
On U.S. oil patches stretching along the Rockies and Great Plains, trailers hitched to trucks back up toward well pads to capture natural gas and convert it on the spot into electricity.The trailers - carrying pipes, generators and computers - are called “mining rigs.” But their owners aren’t there to drill for oil. They are using stray natural gas unwanted by oil companies to power their search for another treasure: cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.Cryptocurrencies are virtual coins exchanged without middlemen, such as central banks, to purchase goods and services.
New Water Dissolvable Frac Ball Tooling Launched
Victory Elements says its newly launched water dissolvable ceramic materials for hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells are designed to provide performance and cost advantages compared to conventional practices including faster completion times, reduced completion costs and less environmental impact. The novel system, featuring solid ceramic frac balls of various diameters, fully dissolves in water and brine solutions without acidification and eliminates mechanical processes to remove or retrieve standard frac balls.
The Emerging U.S. Offshore Wind Industry in a Post-COVID-19 World
Join a webinar on June 17, 2020 for the global release of a major new market study on the depth, breadth and growth prospects of the Offshore Wind Market -- https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UR5uY1boTOKdAAcAXDbR4gJust when it was looking like the offshore wind industry was finally about to take off in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced one more significant layer of uncertainty upon an already very complicated playing field. There are currently 15 active offshore wind projects in the planning stages which…
Reinauer Group Ramps Up for the Business of Offshore Wind
The promise of a vibrant U.S. offshore wind business has been long in the making. While questions remain on timing and pace, there is renewed confidence in the offshore wind sector, particularly in the northeast United States (global pandemic notwithstanding). Investment in the sector had escalated to start 2020, embodied best by Reinauer Group and its WindServe Marine unit, which when combined with its Senesco Marine boatbuilding and logistics hub give its an ‘ A-to-Z…
Are OSVs Fit for Refit for Offshore Wind?
While it is generally agreed that the nascent offshore wind energy market in the U.S. will be a newbuild market, there is a repair and conversion possibility for some stacked OSVs.Though estimates on the pace of the offshore wind energy market in the U.S. vary widely, the direction is clear: offshore wind will be a huge marketplace for construction and support vessels to be deployed in U.S. waters over the next decade. The starting point for estimated vessel demand is the raft of projects along the U.S.
Offshore: OSV Market Report
The environment in oil patches onshore and offshore alike has been challenging throughout 2019; worries about an economic slowdown – whether cyclical or induced by a trade war – have weighed heavily on oil prices, even in the face of reduced production by the big producers. Though storm clouds persist, there appears a clearing on the horizon.The fate of Offshore Service Vessels (OSVs) is, naturally, closely tied to the price of oil. Seacor Marine’s John Gellert, in reviewing its Q2 results, said: “Activity levels in the U.S.
Sapura Energy Bags Multiple Contracts
Malaysia’s oilfield services player Sapura Energy said it has has clinched contracts worth a total of MYR 1 billion ($242 million) for several new oil patch deals and one – the company’s first – offshore wind contract.The 10 new contracts are for its engineering and construction and drilling segments across Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia, said a press release from the company.In addition, the company has been selected for a frame agreement with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for fixed offshore structure works…
US Oil Rig Count Holds Steady after Weeks of Gains
The U.S. oil rig count held steady this week after rising for six weeks in a row even as crude prices soar to multi-year highs, prompting drillers to extract record amounts of oil, especially from shale.The total oil rig count held at 844 in the week to May 18, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday.The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is much higher than a year ago when 720 rigs were…
Oil Hits Multi-year High on Tight Supply, Iran Sanctions
Oil prices hit a 3-1/2-year high on Tuesday, supported by tight supply and planned U.S. sanctions against Iran that are likely to restrict crude oil exports from one of the biggest producers in the Middle East.Brent crude oil reached an intraday peak of $79.47 a barrel, up $1.24 and its highest since November 2014, before easing to $78.28, up 5 cents, by 1345 GMT.U.S. light crude was 15 cents lower at $70.81 a barrel, also not far off its highest since November 2014.World…
US Shale Output to Hit Record in June -EIA
U.S. shale production is expected to rise by about 145,000 barrels per day to a record 7.18 million bpd in June, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Monday.A majority of the increase is expected to come from the Permian basin, the biggest U.S. oil patch, where output is expected to climb 78,000 bpd to a fresh record of 3.28 million bpd, the EIA said in its monthly drilling productivity report https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/#tabs-summary-2.Soaring Permian crude production has already outpaced pipeline takeaway capacity…
Facebook's Zuckerberg Drills Down into North Dakota's Oil Patch
Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg toured a North Dakota drilling rig on Tuesday and peppered industry workers in the No. 2 U.S. oil-producing state with questions about automation, safety and fracking. The visit to North Dakota, which pumps about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day - more than some OPEC members - is part of Zuckerberg's plan to tour all 50 states this year and learn about their local economies and communities. While Zuckerberg, 33, is a vocal supporter of renewable energy development…
Halliburton CEO to Retire, Replaced by Miller
Halliburton Co said on Wednesday that Chief Executive Officer Dave Lesar will retire on June 1 and be replaced by Jeff Miller, Lesar's longtime deputy and fellow board member. Lesar will stay on as executive chairman of the world's second-largest oilfield service provider until December 2018, when he reaches the company's mandatory retirement age of 65. The transition, which was expected, comes as Halliburton tries to recover from a two-year oil price downturn that has eroded profit margins and forced the company to lay off thousands of workers.
Energy East Pipeline woes Worry Canada's Atlantic Coast
For years, heavy equipment operator Ashley Underhill has tried to defy the notion that one could only make a good living in Canada's poorer east coast by spending most of the time away from the family in the nation's western oil patch. One reason Underhill had battled on, working on small private contracts, including snow clearing and wood cutting, was Energy East, a planned 4,600-km (2860-mile) pipeline between Alberta's oil sands and the east coast and the promise of an economic boost it could bring.
Trump's Win Revives Keystone XL Discussion
Republican Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election cheered investors in Canadian energy producers eager to revive the stalled drive to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, giving oil sands crude better access to U.S. markets. President Barack Obama denied a permit to TransCanada Corp's proposed cross-border Keystone XL pipeline last year. In May, Trump said that if elected, he would "100 percent" approve Keystone XL, which would carry 830,000 barrels per day from Alberta to Nebraska, but would seek a better deal.
FPSOs Sit Unprecedentedly Idle
The 20 year four-fold growth pattern in the world’s FPSO fleet stalls out in 2016 with a record number of FPSOs idle and available for redeployment – or perhaps to be forced into other uses, lay up or scrap. FPSO redeployments typically are far more complex, costly and risky than for (say) drillships and yet the need for redeploying idle FPSOs is now in the forefront of the industry like never before as FPSO owners also have to face the worst ever down market for their equipment and services.
Bank of Montreal Says No Rise in Delinquencies after Oil Slump
Bank of Montreal's chief executive said the lender was not seeing increases in delinquencies among clients in the energy sector and forecast the oil price slump would result in restructuring rather than failures. "We're not seeing increases in delinquencies yet. The story of the oil patch is much more a story of restructuring than it is one of failure and default. That means the strongest companies are going to buy weaker companies," Bill Downe said in an interview after the bank's annual meeting. (Reporting by John Tilak)
US Oil-belt Banks Rally Despite Crude Crash
Investors fretting about the impact of low crude prices on U.S. oil belt banks may have overdone the angst. After posting relatively weak earnings reports for the fourth quarter of 2015, most banks based in Texas and Oklahoma have seen their shares rally. Some have gained up to 18 percent as fears of defaults crashing banks proved unwarranted, and some stocks may have further to rise if oil prices recover. Shares of Allegiance Bancshares and Prosperity Bancshares, both based in Houston, have surged more than 16 percent since they posted results.
Canada's NEB Finding Talent Amidst Downturn
A sharp downturn in Canada's oil patch that has caused thousands of layoffs has made it easier for the country's energy regulator to find and hire experienced staff, its chief executive said on Wednesday. Canada's National Energy Board has recently hired more than a dozen people focused on pipeline safety, NEB's Peter Watson told reporters after a speech in Toronto. "We're very focused on attracting some of the talent that has been leaving the industry as a result of the downturn," he said.
Oil shock Impacting U.S. Economy: Kemp
Slumping oil and gas prices and a downturn in investment are proving to be major headwinds for the economies of the United States and other key important petroleum producers. Economists tend to think of oil and gas as simply an input into the production process for other goods and services, which is why they tend to think of falling fuel prices as a positive influence on economic activity. But the production and refining of oil and gas is also a major industry in its own right…
