AI's hunger for energy fuels geothermal startup but rivalry over natgas clouds the future
The number of geothermal energy startups is on the rise, as Big Tech companies look to power their AI data centers with natural gas. However, long-term investment remains uncertain because oil majors are doubling down on natural gases. Meta and Alphabet’s Google are two of the tech companies that have partnered with startups to create geothermal energy to power their data centres. The energy demands of artificial intelligence are being met by large datacenter operators, who are also accelerating the adoption of a variety of clean technologies. Trey Lowe is the chief technology officer of Devon Energy in the United States…
Diamondback Energy misses Q3 profit estimates, raises annual production forecast
Diamondback Energy missed Monday's estimates for the third quarter profit as it was hit by lower prices. However, its forecast for production for this year got a boost thanks to its acquisition of Endeavor Energy for $26 billion. Oil prices dropped in the third quarter, after an interest rate reduction by the Federal Reserve that was larger than expected sparked concern about the U.S. economic situation as well as global demand. The company has been announcing its results for the month of September. Lower prices for its third quarter oil and gas production. This makes it the third U.S. shale producers to do this in just a few weeks after Occidental Petroleum, and Exxon Mobil.
MARA, a cryptominer, taps the power generated by U.S. Shale Patch in a new pilot program
MARA Holdings Inc. has announced that it is now producing electricity in the U.S. Shale Patch as part of a program pilot to power 25 megawatts for its mining operations using excess natural gas. The company said that the move was made in response to the intensifying competition between Big Tech AI data centers for electricity, which has caused the crypto industry to change its business strategy and either market AI or find a way around the power battle. Fred Thiel, Chief Executive Officer of MARA, said: "The AI guys will pay any price to meet their energy demand.
Rystad Says Oil Demand is Peaking. Predicts $60 a Barrel by 2027
Global crude oil prices could drop to about $60 per barrel by 2027 as demand growth slows, say oil analysts at Rystad Energy, chopping a third off next year's peak price as demand tumbles.Their outlook is a reassuring message amid recent Wall Street analysts predicting up to $150 per barrel in the next two years. Rystad's long-term forecast calls for prices to peak next year at $91 per barrel before dropping to as much as $50. "Demand is peaking," Claudio Galimberti, Rystad's head of North America Research, said on Thursday at an event in Houston. "We anticipate prices to taper off in the next three to four years…
Shell Exits Permian with $9.5B Sale to ConocoPhillips. Its U.S. Output Now Mostly Offshore
Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday it would sell its Permian Basin assets to ConocoPhillips for $9.5 billion in cash, an exit from the largest U.S. oilfield for the energy major shifting its focus to the clean energy transition.For ConocoPhillips, it is the second sizable acquisition in a year in the heart of the U.S. shale industry, as American and European producers diverge in whether to focus on hydrocarbons going forward.Like all of the world's largest oil companies, Shell is under pressure from investors to reduce fossil-fuel investments to help reduce…
WTI-Brent Spread Narrows as Oil Market Tightens
The price gap between the world's two most actively traded oil contracts narrowed to its lowest in more than seven months, demonstrating that U.S. oil output is still in the COVID-19 doldrums with the market likely to remain undersupplied.North Sea Brent futures traded at a premium of $1.89 to U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on Friday, its narrowest since November 11."We believe that the recent narrowing of the WTI-Brent price spread ... is noteworthy, with North America taking the mantle from Chinese demand or OPEC cuts and disruptions in tightening the global oil market…
Oil Market On Track to Rebalance Around Mid-2021
U.S. petroleum inventories have continued to converge down towards the five-year average, a sign that oil market rebalancing remains on track, despite the resurgence of the coronavirus since the end of 2020.Total stocks of crude oil and products, excluding the strategic petroleum reserve, fell by 12 million barrels last week and are down by 130 million barrels since the middle of 2020.Stocks have fallen in 24 out of the last 30 weeks, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.As a result, petroleum inventories are now 6% above the pre-pandemic five-year average for 2015-2019…
Wave of N. American Oil and Gas Bankruptcies to Continue at $40 Oil
A wave of oil and gas bankruptcies in North America is likely to continue this year as oil prices remain depressed and a new surge of COVID-19 cases threaten to stall any recovery in fuel demand, law firm Haynes and Boone said in a report released this week.Bankruptcies surged in the second quarter, including from major shale independents Chesapeake Energy and Whiting Petroleum, as oil prices collapsed due to the pandemic and a brief, unexpected price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.There were 18 producer bankruptcies in the second quarter, according to a report compiled by law firm Haynes & Boone…
OPEC, Russia Extend Record Oil Cuts
OPEC, Russia, and allies agreed on Saturday to extend record oil production cuts until the end of July, prolonging a deal that has helped crude prices double in the past two months by withdrawing almost 10% of global supplies from the market.The group, known as OPEC+, also demanded countries such as Nigeria and Iraq, which exceeded production quotas in May and June, compensate with extra cuts in July to September.OPEC+ had initially agreed in April that it would cut supply by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) during May-June to prop up prices that collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis.
Oil Drops after Saudi Arabia, Russia Delay Meeting on Output Cuts
Oil prices slipped on Monday, after Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed a meeting to discuss output cuts that could partly alleviate oversupply in global markets as the coronavirus pandemic pummels demand.Brent crude slipped close to $30 a barrel in early trade and was at $33.45 by 0532 GMT, down 66 cents, or 1.9%. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 98 cents, or 3.5%, to $27.36 a barrel, after earlier touching a low of $25.28.Late last week, prices surged, with U.S. and Brent contracts posting their largest ever weekly percentage gains due to hopes that OPEC…
OPEC+ Debates Biggest Ever Oil Output Cut as Virus Destroys Demand
OPEC and allies are working on a deal for an unprecedented production cut equivalent to around 10% of global supply, an OPEC source said after U.S. President Donald Trump called on oil nations to stop the oil rout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting of OPEC and allies such as Russia has been scheduled for Monday, April 6, Azeri's energy ministry said, but details were still thin on the exact distribution of production cuts. Oil prices have fallen to around $20 per barrel from $65 at the start of the year as more than 3 billion people went into lockdown because of the virus, reducing global oil demand by as much as a third or 30 million barrels per day.
Oilfield Equipment and Services Spending to Fall to 2005-Low
Global spending on oilfield equipment and services this year will fall 21% from 2019 to $211 billion, the lowest level since 2005, according to a report to be released on Wednesday by consultancy Spears & Associates, as oil and gas producers slash spending.The decline comes as the coronavirus pandemic has crushed oil and gas demand, and Saudi Arabia and Russia pump full bore in a grab for market share that has shale producers reeling. U.S. oil futures fell 54% for the month of March, to $20.48 a barrel on Tuesday, below U.S. producers' cost of production.Spears' estimate for 2020 spending is below industry outlays at the nadir of the last price crash in 2016…
EIA, IEA Grossly Overestimating US Shale: ESAI
ESAI Energy, an oil & energy data provider, believes both the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are overly optimistic in their November projections of US crude oil production in 2020, according to the company’s latest North America Watch.ESAI Energy sees a deceleration in growth to about 650,000 b/d next year, in contrast to the EIA and IEA forecasts of 1.0 million b/d and 900,000 b/d, respectively.ESAI points to declining capital expenditures by many shale producers in response to investor pressure to spend within cash flow…
Oil Prices Gain 2%
Oil futures gained nearly 2% on Friday as comments from a top U.S. official raised optimism for a U.S.-China trade deal, but worries about increasing crude supplies capped prices.Benchmark Brent crude gained $1.13, or 1.8%, to $63.41 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 93 cents, or 1.6%, to $57.70 a barrel.Brent and WTI were both on track to post their second straight weekly gain. Brent was due to rise 1.4%, and WTI was set to gain 0.8%.U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on Fox Business Network on Friday that there…
ExxonMobil Profit Halves
Exxon Mobil Corp's third-quarter profit nearly halved, hit by lower oil prices and weaker margins in refining and chemicals, with its three major business reporting lower year-over-year profit.Earnings fell to $3.17 billion, or 75 cents per share, in the quarter, from $6.24 billion, or $1.46 per share, a year earlier, the company reported on Friday.It beat analysts' recently reduced expectations for earnings of 67 cents per share. The company last month warned results would be hurt by weaker chemicals and lower oil prices, prompting analysts to reduce…
ConocoPhillips Profit Beats Estimates
US oil and gas company ConocoPhillips' quarterly profit shot ahead of analysts' estimates on Tuesday, as higher shale production offset the impact from lower crude prices and higher exploration costs.Total production, excluding Libya, rose 98,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) to 1.322 million boe/d, with output from U.S. basins including Eagle Ford, Bakken and the Permian rising 21% in the quarter.The company's results kick off a quarter for U.S. shale producers that is expected to see sharp earnings declines on a year-over-year basis, as…
Investors Brace for Poor US Shale Earnings
Investors are bracing for weaker results from U.S. shale players in coming days as lower oil and natural gas prices and cost-cutting measures have weighed on third-quarter operations.Major shale producers ConocoPhillips and Concho Resources this week kick off quarterly earnings reports for a group whipsawed this year by volatile pricing and investor demands for improved returns. Oil and gas producers have cut drilling and slashed jobs amid worries over pricing outlooks.U.S. oil prices are down 17% and natural gas is down about 31% from a year ago, undercutting production increases.
Halliburton Promises Cost Cuts
Halliburton Co on Monday promised more cost cuts after reporting a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue as the oilfield services looks to counter weak demand from North American shale producers, sending its shares up about 7%.The biggest hydraulic fracking services provider, which earlier this month cut 650 jobs in North America, said it would take steps over the next few quarters that will lead to $300 million in annualized cost savings.Oilfield service providers are struggling with reduced spending by oil and gas producers as investors push…
ProPetro Cuts Almost 150 Workers
ProPetro Holding Corp this month cut about 150 workers, people familiar with the matter said on Monday, the latest sign of growing trouble in the oilfield services sector as U.S. shale producers reduce drilling.The job cuts reflect slowing shale activity due to weak prices for oil and gas, and producers exhausting their spending budgets for the year, one of the people said.Midland, Texas-based ProPetro said last week it would cut the number of hydraulic fracturing fleets operated this quarter by as much as 28%, far surpassing analysts' expectations. The fleets send water…
NOV Cuts Staff for Second Time This Year
Oilfield equipment and service provider National Oilwell Varco has begun trimming its workforce for the second time this year, two people familiar with the matter said this week, as oil producers cut spending budgets.The Houston, Texas-based company last quarter rolled out a voluntary early retirement program and said it was reorganizing operations to reduce costs as part of a broader restructuring plan. The latest cuts, which are already underway, are in addition to those job reductions, the people said.Newer staffing cuts are aimed at eliminating redundant functions within the company, such as marketing or recruitment, one person said.
