If you look at the number of jobs lost, company market value lost, and the growing numbers of oil patch bankruptcies, 2015’s continued commodities price fall led to a lot of bangs and bruises in the oil and gas industry. 2015 was also a year in which readers of Oil & Gas 360® kept up with industry developments, company news and geopolitical trends in record numbers. Our weekly readership in December is up by 79% compared to the pageviews per week in January of 2015.
A look back at the most popular stories on Oil & Gas 360® in 2015
As the year unfurled, it’s interesting to see which topics attracted the majority of readers as time went forward throughout the year. As the reality of OPEC’s production-over-price strategy and its effect on the industry washed over 2015, the stories of most interest changed. We analyzed our readership stats and came up with the top five stories on www.OilandGas360.com, measured by pageviews, for each quarter of 2015.
At the beginning of 2015, the drop in commodities prices felt more like a nuisance after three+ years of $90+ and $100+ oil topping off a full decade of the shale boom. But as the first quarter progressed, it became more obvious that the oil price dive, which began the prior summer, was more likely a continuing phenomenon, not just a temporary blip a decade into the Shale Revolution.
In fact 2015 would see the end of a period of furious activity when the industry accelerated investment and borrowing to accommodate the full-speed-ahead drilling and development of shale resources. It was a time for company building on the back of the shale boom. But taking its place in 2015 would be dramatic cost cutting by E&Ps and Oilservice companies paired with the drive to create maximum efficiencies in all aspects of oil and gas operations and company management.
First Quarter of 2015
Oil Prices (WTI): On Jan. 2, 2015 WTI was trading at $52.72; at quarter’s end on Mar. 31, WTI was $47.72. Gas Prices (Henry Hub): Jan. 2, 2015: $3.01; March 31: $2.65
The most popular single story during Q1 2015, as judged by clicks on www.OilandGas360.com, was:
After that, Q1 2015 was all about oil prices and dramatically falling rig counts:
- Chart of the Week: WTI Price: Where it’s Been, Where’s it Going?
- Oil Prices Continue to Fall, but for How Long?
- Oil Prices: Pain from a Thousand Cuts
- Chart of the Week: Rig Counts by Oil Plays
Second Quarter of 2015
Oil Prices (WTI): On April 1, 2015 WTI was $50.12; at quarter’s end on June, 30, the U.S. crude benchmark had staged a short rally and was $59.48. Gas Prices (Henry Hub): April 1, 2015: $2.62; June 30: $2.80
In the second quarter of 2015, there were some diversions, and seeing what other companies were doing led the popularity contest on Oil & Gas 360®.
The most popular story during Q2 2015 was:
Following that, here were the most popular stories in the second quarter:
- Halliburton, Baker Hughes Looking to Sell up to $10 Billion in Assets
- Halliburton, Baker Hughes Announce First $3.5 Billion of Divestitures, More to Follow
- The IEA’s 1.2 Million Missing Barrels of Daily Production
- At What Point Will Renewable Energy be Able to Replace Fossil Fuels?
Third Quarter of 2015
Oil Prices (WTI): On July 1, 2015 oil prices were $56.94; at the quarter’s end on Sept. 30, the WTI spot price was $45.06. Gas Prices (Henry Hub): July 1, 2015: $2.78; Sept. 30: $2.47
In Q3 2015 the story achieving the most pageviews was still:
Following that, the most popular stories were:
- Oil Prices: The Argument for a V-Shaped Recovery
- At What Point Will Renewable Energy be Able to Replace Fossil Fuels?
- Williams Companies Weighing Takeover Offers; Energy Transfer Still in the Picture
- 2015: Coal v. Natural Gas
Fourth Quarter of 2015
By the start of the fourth quarter, it was obvious that a price recovery was not in the cards. After three quarters of record storage levels at Cushing, stories counting dozens of oil tankers around the world full of “floating storage,” growing natural gas inventories and 12 months of production increases recorded by Saudi Arabia and many of the U.S. shale producers—combined with the promise of new oil production on the horizon coming from Iraq and Iran and lackluster global demand—the chances of a price recovery in 2015 were dead.
Oil Prices (WTI): On Oct. 1, 2015 WTI was $44.75; on Dec. 30, at the time of this writing, WTI is trading at $36.48. Gas Prices (Henry Hub): Oct. 1, 2015: $2.37; Dec. 30 (as of time of this writing): $2.20
The most popular story during Q4 2015 was:
After that these were the fourth quarter’s most popular stories:
- At What Point Will Renewable Energy be Able to Replace Fossil Fuels?
- 2015: Coal v. Natural Gas
- Why Are You Drilling?
- Colorado Oil Patch: Trouble is Brewing
Here’s to a healthy round of good news in 2016.