Icahn Steps up Fight with Occidental
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Wednesday ratcheted up his fight with Occidental Petroleum over its pending purchase of rival Anadarko Petroleum by calling for a special shareholder meeting where he hopes to win board seats.In a regulatory filing, Icahn said he planned to oust and replace four Occidental directors and change the company's charter through a stockholder consent solicitation to prevent it from ever engineering a similar takeover again.Responding to the filing…
U.S. Court to Decide Who Will Control Citgo
A U.S. court will decide whether a board of directors appointed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro or one backed by his rival, opposition leader Juan Guaido, runs the eighth-largest U.S. refiner, Citgo Petroleum Corp.A lawsuit filed by Maduro's representatives on Tuesday in Delaware Chancery Court seeks to reassert control over Citgo , along with other U.S. subsidiaries of PDVSA , the Venezuelan state-run oil company.Citgo, Venezuela's most important foreign asset, has been caught in a tug-of-war as U.S.
Icahn Sues Oxy Over 'Misguided' Anadarko Deal
Occidental Petroleum Corp 's activist investor Carl Icahn has filed a lawsuit against the company over what it called its "misguided" pact to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp, and may seek a special meeting to remove and replace board members.The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Delaware by a group of Icahn companies, calls Occidental's recent agreement to purchase Anadarko for $38 billion "fundamentally misguided and hugely overpriced," and says "management wanted to avoid a vote at almost all costs."Icahn…
Danos Wins US Contracts
Danos has recently entered into a contract with an independent land company based out of Dallas, Texas, to transition 50-60 crew members in a variety of positions. The transition will take place over the coming weeks to support water transfer at water treatment facilities in Midland and Orla, Texas. Additionally, Danos has been awarded a contract to construct two saltwater disposal facilities near Carlsbad, New Mexico, for a Texas-based drilling and production…
Marathon Oil Beats Profit Estimates
Marathon Oil Corp beat analysts' estimates for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, boosted by higher production and lower costs at its U.S. shale assets in the Bakken and Northern Delaware regions.Total oil production averaged 203,000 net barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter, up 6 percent from a year ago, with U.S. crude production jumping 11 percent, adjusted for divestitures.On the back of rising production from its assets and a rebound in oil prices, Marathon expects second-quarter total oil production of 200,000 to 220,000 net bpd, with U.S.
Offshore wind: The making of a (supply chain) star
Wind is “the tech of choice,” the International Energy Agency said recently, just as a new report by the University of Delaware outlined the opportunity in U.S. offshore wind: 5,000 miles of offshore cabling and 1,700 turbines, it turns out, are bundled into current state-side plans. Yet, serious observers of the first U.S. offshore wind installations saw inefficiency: unwieldy lifts; few specialist vessels on-hand; and cables were “just cables.” Supply chain innovation…
Chevron to Buy Anadarko for $33 Bln
Chevron Corp on Friday said it will buy oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp for $33 billion in cash and stock in a deal that doubles down on its bet on U.S. shale and LNG as U.S. energy production is shattering records.The deal makes Chevron the second-largest major by crude production, behind Exxon Mobil Corp, up from fourth. It expands Chevron's reach in two areas where U.S. energy output is surging - shale from the Permian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) - which have helped make the U.S.
Exxon, Chevron Accelerate Shale Production
The two biggest U.S. oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil plan to significantly ramp up production in the US shale heartland as the oil behemoths are seeking to go from shale to scale in the Permian.Rystad Energy’s shale team analysed as to which operator holds the best potential in the prolific basin spanning parts of Texas and New Mexico and announced that Chevron has the better opportunity to continue to grow post 2030.ExxonMobil will have to drill about twice as many new wells as Chevron to reach the communicated production goal.
CITGO Formally Cuts Ties with PDVSA
U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp is formally cutting ties with its parent, state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA, to meet U.S. sanctions imposed on the OPEC country, two people close to the decision told Reuters on Tuesday.Executives at the Houston-based firm set a Feb. 26 deadline to end relationships with PDVSA following sanctions designed to curb oil revenues to socialist President Nicolas Maduro and support the nation's transition government formed by Venezuelan congress head Juan Guaido.The United States…
Citgo's New Board Arrives, to Hold First Meeting
A board of directors appointed this month by Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress to run state-owned oil firm PDVSA's U.S. unit Citgo Petroleum on Thursday was arranging its first meeting at the company's headquarters, according with two people familiar with the matter.Venezuela's National Assembly, led by opposition leader and self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido, last week appointed new boards for PDVSA and subsidiaries PDV Holding, Citgo Holding and…
Size Matters in Shale Industry
Having taken a closer look at the detailed economics of the most recent 1,000 wells drilled in the most popular shale hotspot – the Wolfcamp A zone of the Permian Delaware basin – Rystad Energy can see a clear pattern emerging that favors large players.As US crude production is set to grow significantly over the next decade, analysts still debate whether shale drilling is actually a profitable endeavor. Some skeptics claim operators overstate their well production profiles…
Anadarko Profit Misses as Costs Rise
Oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates by a wide margin, as it spent more on its projects in West Texas and northeast Colorado.Oil producers, betting on a recovery in oil prices since their slump in 2014, have ramped up production in the U.S. shale basins, and the country overtook Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world's biggest crude producer with daily output approaching 12 million barrels.However…
Mariner East 2 Pipeline Operational: Energy Transfer
United States-based Energy Transfer announced that its Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids (NGLs) pipeline is in service, available for both interstate and intrastate service.The natural gas company which owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets, with a strategic footprint in all of the major domestic production basin said that the 350-mile NGL pipeline transports domestically produced ethane, propane and butane east…
Energy Transfer Defends Mariner East 2 NGL Pipe Plan in Pennsylvania
Energy Transfer LP representatives are heading to Pennsylvania's capital on Thursday for a hearing before utility regulators to defend the company's plan to put the Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipe into service by year end.Energy Transfer wants to temporarily connect an existing 1930s-era 12-inch (30.5 centimeter) pipe to the parts of its long-delayed 20-inch Mariner East 2 pipeline that it has already completed so it can start transporting liquids for customers.Those customers have been waiting for more than a year to ship liquids on Mariner East 2.
Cimarex to Buy Resolute Energy in $1.6 Bln Deal
Oil and gas producer Cimarex Energy Co said on Monday it would buy smaller rival Resolute Energy Corp in a deal valued at $1.6 billion, including debt, adding more assets in the shale-rich Permian Basin.The region has seen several deals as bigger producers add more assets, allowing them to negotiate better with oilfield services, frac sand providers and pipeline operators as production costs rise.Cimarex had a market value of $8.49 billion, while Resolute was valued at about $706.3 million as of Sept.29…
Several US States Likely Withheld from Offshore Drilling Plan
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has hinted to at least six coastal states that he will keep their waters out of a looming plan to expand U.S. offshore drilling, telling some they lack enough oil to be included anyway, according to state officials and transcripts from public hearings.Zinke's comments are the clearest indication to date that the Trump administration’s initial proposal to open nearly all U.S. waters to drilling, announced in January, will be significantly pared back by the time it is finalized.
U.S. Imports of Nigerian Crude Fall to 3-year Low
U.S. crude oil imports from Nigeria in July plunged to the lowest level in three years and are continuing to slip as Asian and European buyers increase purchases, trade flow data from Thomson Reuters and market intelligence firms Genscape and Kpler show.A narrowing spread between benchmark Brent and Oman crude futures <DUB-EFS-1M>, trading at less than $2 a barrel compared with more than $4 in May, has made Nigerian crude more attractive to Asian buyers than U.S. refiners.
Anadarko to Sell Midstream Assets for $4 Bln
Oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Thursday it would sell nearly all of its midstream assets, including pipelines, to its master limited partnership Western Gas Partners for $4.02 billion.The company is selling assets in the Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico and the DJ basin in Colorado.Western Gas will take complete ownership of DBM Oil Services, and APC Water Holdings, while acquiring a 50 percent stake in multiple gas plants in the Delaware basin of West Texas, the companies said.The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.(Repor
BP Completes $10.5-billion BHP Billiton Acquisition
London-based BP Plc BP has completed the $10.5-billion acquisition of BHP’s U.S. unconventional assets in a landmark deal that will significantly upgrade BP’s U.S. onshore oil and gas portfolio, in a move that upgrades and repositions its American onshore business.The portfolio includes assets in the highly-prized Permian-Delaware basin in Texas, along with two premium positions in the Eagle Ford and Haynesville basins in Texas and Louisiana (see map, below).The assets currently produce 190…
Devon Energy to Sell EnLink Midstream Stakes
Oil and gas producer Devon Energy Corp said on Wednesday it plans to sell its stakes in EnLink Midstream for $3.13 billion cash in a bid to streamline assets and pare debt."The EnLink proceeds, combined with proceeds from the non-core E&P assets already sold and those currently being marketed, will exceed our $5 billion divestiture target," Chief Executive Officer Dave Hager said in statement.Shares of the company rose more than 6 percent to $41.85 before the bell.Devon is trying to simplify its asset portfolio…
