Exploration and Production (E&P)

Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. Asset Overview, Oct. 2017

Panhandle Oil and Gas Q4/FY2017 Results

Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. (ticker: PHX) released its Q4 results today along with an operations update.

Highlights for the periods ended September 30, 2017

  • Recorded a fourth quarter 2017 net income of $1,039,134, $0.06 per share, compared to a
Permian: Oil, Water Producers Learn How to Comply with New Mexico Mandate to Reduce Ogallala Freshwater Use

Permian: Oil, Water Producers Learn How to Comply with New Mexico Mandate to Reduce Ogallala Freshwater Use

From the Carlsbad Current-Argus

Many oil and gas operators and water producers in the Permian Basin region are adjusting their operations to conserve water from one of the country’s largest underground aquifers, six months after the New Mexico State Land …

North Dakota Oil Production – Same Players, Different Pecking Order

North Dakota Oil Production – Same Players, Different Pecking Order

Continental, Whiting, others shift positions from 2 years ago

The North Dakota Industrial Commission released its September 2017 oil production data this week, reporting per-well production across the state.

The largest oil producers in the Bakken/Three Forks plays in North …

Oasis Dives into Permian with $946 Million Acreage Buy

Oasis Dives into Permian with $946 Million Acreage Buy

OAS snags 20,300 acres in Loving, Ward and Winkler counties – plans $100 million for Permian development, but ~$800 million  Williston program still dominates

Oasis Petroleum (ticker: OAS) has joined much of the industry in riding the surge into the …

Whiting Petroleum’s $900 Million Q4 Impairment Charge

Whiting Petroleum’s $900 Million Q4 Impairment Charge

According to an SEC 8-K form filed December 7, 2017, the board of directors at Whiting Petroleum Corporation have “concluded that a material charge for impairment to one of its assets was required under generally accepted accounting principles applicable to …

Source: University of Colorado

Wattenberg: Boulder County Files for Dismissal of 8 North’s Additional Density Applications

Colorado county adjacent to Weld is fighting to stop oil and gas development on its side of the line

In the Wattenberg field, Boulder County has filed motions to dismiss 8 North LLC’s applications for additional density, arguing that the …

Ensign Energy Releases 2018 CapEx Budget, Brings on New Board Member

Ensign Energy Releases 2018 CapEx Budget, Brings on New Board Member

Ensign Energy Services Inc. (ticker: ESI) announced a CapEx of $64 million, comprised of $43 million for capital maintenance on the fleet and $21 million for equipment and optimization upgrades to the current fleet. Ensign said that the capital plan …

China’s Crying Need for NatGas—a Discovery in Bohai’s Shallow Water, LNG Demand Booming

China’s Crying Need for NatGas—a Discovery in Bohai’s Shallow Water, LNG Demand Booming

China on a tear to expand domestic gas output and diversify its natural gas imports

China’s quest for natural gas

“China supports domestic enterprises to increase natural gas output and at the same time to diversify imports of the resource,” …

Lynn Helms, Director of North Dakota DMR 
Photo Credit: Prairie Biz

N.D. Supreme Court Upholds State’s Million-Dollar Oilfield Saltwater Dumping Penalty

The North Dakota Supreme Court today ruled in favor of the North Dakota Industrial Commission, Oil and Gas Division (OGD) regarding a case seeking a civil penalty plus costs and expenses from Black Hills Trucking (BHT) for illegally dumping saltwater …

Alaska Collects $21.2 Million from Dec. 6 Lease Sale, North Slope Nets $20 Million of Total

Alaska Collects $21.2 Million from Dec. 6 Lease Sale, North Slope Nets $20 Million of Total

Armstrong Energy, Repsol, ConocoPhillips among winning bidders

The State of Alaska held a record-breaking oil and gas North Slope lease sale on Dec. 6, netting competitive bids from investors around the world.

The Division of Oil and Gas reported that …

Oil’s Magic Number to Launch a New Shale Surge Is Above $60 a Barrel: JPMorgan

Oil’s Magic Number to Launch a New Shale Surge Is Above $60 a Barrel: JPMorgan

From Bloomberg

A one- to two-quarter run above $60 is “the consensus catalyst for another leg higher”

For America’s shale drillers, the tipping point to boost production looks to be $60 a barrel.

It’ll take a sustained run above that …

Going Local for Supplies Sparks New Frac Sand Boom in Texas

Going Local for Supplies Sparks New Frac Sand Boom in Texas

From the Financial Times

Sand prices are rebounding as fracking intensifies

The industry is excavating dunes for frac sand, which is pumped into wells to crack open rocks and get oil and gas flowing.

The deposits are in demand because …

Drilling Deeper Into the Bill Barrett Fifth Creek Deal

Drilling Deeper Into the Bill Barrett Fifth Creek Deal

Bill Barrett Corporation (ticker: BBG) announced a merger with Fifth Creek Energy yesterday, creating a company with more than $1 billion in initial equity value. Bill Barrett held a conference call today, allowing investors to examine the specifics of the …

Photo: Oil & Gas 360 - Permian - Delaware Basin Action Virtually Nonstop Since Oct. 1

Can Anything Stop the Permian?

Another 560 MBOPD production growth in 2017

The Permian has experienced massive production growth this year, adding more than 560 MBOPD with no signs of slowing down.

Companies in the Permian expect to grow even more next year, further cementing …

Fifth Creek Energy, Bill Barrett Corporation to Merge in $649 Million Deal

Fifth Creek Energy, Bill Barrett Corporation to Merge in $649 Million Deal

Bill Barrett (ticker: BBG) announced the acquisition of Fifth Creek Energy after markets closed Tuesday, in a transaction valued at about $650 million.

The agreement will see Bill Barrett and Fifth Creek each become subsidiaries of a new holding company, …

Statoil Greenlights Largest Offshore Project This Year

Statoil Greenlights Largest Offshore Project This Year

Johan Castberg will cost $6 billion

Norway’s Statoil (ticker: STO) approved the largest offshore development this year today, approving the Johan Castberg project in the arctic Barents Sea.

Discovered in 2011, Johan Castberg is farther north than Prudhoe Bay in …

Maersk Oil, Shell Invest $3.4 Billion in Offshore Denmark

Maersk Oil, Shell Invest $3.4 Billion in Offshore Denmark

Production over many years has caused the ground to subside

Maersk Oil announced the largest-ever investment in the Danish portion of the North Sea today, redeveloping the country’s largest gas condensate field.

The Danish Underground Consortium, made up of Maersk …

In the Third Largest U.S. Shale Gas Basin, Rig Count Noses Past Marcellus

In the Third Largest U.S. Shale Gas Basin, Rig Count Noses Past Marcellus

Total U.S. rigs up by 6 – total is 929

U.S. drilling activity rose again this week, the fourth straight week of increases, according to the latest edition of Baker Hughes Rig Count.

Six rigs began activity this week, meaning …

Source: Helix Energy

Contango Ahead of Schedule in the Permian

One-rig program throughout 2018

Contango Oil & Gas (ticker: MCF) announced an update on its operations today, covering activity in its Permian acreage.

Contango expects it will maintain its current one-rig drilling program throughout 2018, now that it has de-risked …

What’s Worth More to the State of Texas—Land or Oil?

Texas’s Elevated 2017 Oil & Gas Production Tax Revenue Sends $1.5 Billion to Highways, Rainy Day Fund

$1.5 billion in revenues from Texas oil & gas production taxes split between rainy day and highway funds

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar has announced the transfer of $1.47 billion into the State Highway Fund and the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF), …

OPEC, Non-OPEC Group Agrees to Production Cuts Through 2018

OPEC, Non-OPEC Group Agrees to Production Cuts Through 2018

We are in this for the long term: OPEC

Supply from the participating countries will be fully adhered to: “I’m going to be breathing down the necks of the other 24 countries, making sure that everybody stays the course”

Alaska Oil: Drilling the Cook Inlet Again

Alaska Oil: Drilling the Cook Inlet Again

From the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

With $40-$60 per barrel oil, Hilcorp pushing oil production in written-off basin

Not long ago, people were writing off Cook Inlet as a depleted oil producing basin. State agencies were focusing on how to safely …

Poison Pill “Would Make a Totalitarian Dictator Blush”: Icahn Responds to SandRidge

Poison Pill “Would Make a Totalitarian Dictator Blush”: Icahn Responds to SandRidge

“Your apparent disregard for any semblance of accountability to the owners of SandRidge reminds me of the medieval belief in the divine right of kings”: Icahn

Activist investor Carl Icahn published an open letter today, responding to SandRidge’s (ticker: SD) …

Taking a Page from Refiners: Cash Returns

Taking a Page from Refiners: Cash Returns

Refineries may show the way in an environment totally focused on returns

E&P investors are shifting priorities, and are beginning to reject “growth for growth’s sake” in favor of shareholder returns. Cash returns are elusive in a capital-intensive industry, though, …

Crestone Peak Winding Its Way through Colorado CDP Process in Preparation to Drill Assets on Boulder County Side of the Wattenberg

Crestone Peak Winding Its Way through Colorado CDP Process in Preparation to Drill Assets on Boulder County Side of the Wattenberg

Second draft of Comprehensive Drilling Plan for Boulder County is posted for comment

The second draft of the Crestone Peak Comprehensive Drilling Plan for its Boulder County assets has been reviewed by the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) …

Blackbird Energy Inc. (TSX-V: BBI) 2017 Year End Results

Blackbird Energy Inc. (TSX-V: BBI) 2017 Year End Results

2017 highlights

  • Equity financing – closed an upsized and over-subscribed marketed public offering for total gross proceeds of $84.8 million on March 14, 2017
  • Reserves – reported Pipestone/Elmworth Montney proved plus probable (2P) reserves of $395 million
  • Revenue – $6.2
Shell Returns to Cash Dividend, Targets 50% Carbon Footprint Reduction by 2050

Shell Returns to Cash Dividend, Targets 50% Carbon Footprint Reduction by 2050

Q4 2017 dividend all-cash, $25 billion in share buybacks

Shell held its Management Day today, outlining the company’s strategy and outlook in the mid-term.

One of the immediate highlights of this presentation is the cancellation of Shell’s scrip dividend program. …

ExxonMobil Starts Production Offshore Newfoundland/Labrador

ExxonMobil Starts Production Offshore Newfoundland/Labrador

Hebron field project expected to produce 150 MBOPD at peak

  • Project expects to produce up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day at peak
  • Project had more than 40 million hours without a lost-time injury
  • Project completed ahead of schedule
Total Divests Martin Linge, Garantiana Fields

Total Divests Martin Linge, Garantiana Fields

Total (ticker: TOT) announced two significant developments today, selling Norwegian assets and bringing a Brazilian field online.

Total will sell its interests in the Martin Linge field and the Garantiana discovery to Statoil for a total of $1.45 billion. Total …

SandRidge Creates “Poison Pill” to Fight Icahn

SandRidge Creates “Poison Pill” to Fight Icahn

Rights plan prevents acquiring large stake in company

SandRidge Energy (ticker: SD) may be facing an uphill struggle in its acquisition of Bonanza Creek Energy (ticker: BCEI), based on recent filings.

SandRidge announced the adoption of a short-term shareholder rights …