CM - People & Companies - June 26, 2020Carbon Energy Corp. named Erich William Kirsch principal financial officer and principal accounting officer, effective June 11. Kirsch has served as SVP, finance and accounting since August 2019. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. elected Parker A. Weil director. Weil is vice chairman of investment banking at Cowen & Co. CONSOL Energy Inc. appointed Mitesh Thakkar CFO after his having served on an interim basis since Jan. 1. Mark Maki resigned from the board of DCP Midstream...
Jun 26, 2020
PS - Bruin completes six-well pad, halts D&C operations - June 2020In McKenzie County, North Dakota, Bruin E&P Partners completed the FB Bonita #152-93-9B-10-9T targeting the first bench of the Three Forks. The well was completed with a 10,038-ft effective lateral fracked with 9.9 MMlb of proppant (987 lb/ft). During a 24- hour test, it flowed 4,796 boe/d (89% oil), or 478 boe/d per 1,000 lateral ft, on a 50/64-inch choke at 2,250 psi FCP, which places it in the company’s top quartile for IP24s. Five other wells were completed on the same pad during Q1....
Jun 24, 2020
PS - People & Companies - June 24, 2020ExxonMobil Upstream Business Development Co. president Steve Greenlee will retire July 1 after more than 38 years with the company. Linda DuCharme, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Integrated Solutions Co., will replace him, while also being elected VP of Exxon Mobil Corp. and retaining her current role. Falcon Minerals added Claire Harvey and Daniel Herz to its board as Class III directors. Harvey is the CEO of non-op E&P firm Gryphon Oil & Gas. Herz is president and CEO of Falcon....
Jun 24, 2020
BS - Bruin completes six-well pad, halts D&C operations - June 16, 2020In McKenzie County, North Dakota, Bruin E&P Partners completed the FB Bonita #152-93-9B-10-9T targeting the first bench of the Three Forks. The well was completed with a 10,038-ft effective lateral fracked with 9.9 MMlb of proppant (987 lb/ft). During a 24-hour test, it flowed 4,796 boe/d (89% oil), or 478 boe/d per 1,000 lateral ft, on a 50/64-inch choke at 2,250 psi FCP, which places it in the company’s top quartile for IP24s. Five other wells were completed on the same pad during Q1....
Jun 16, 2020
CM - It’s not smooth sailing on the Chesapeake balance sheet - May 2020Chesapeake Energy Corp. withdrew its guidance for 2020 that it had issued in late February, but it did clue investors into a contemplated bankruptcy in its filing covering Q1 results with the SEC. Though the company hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis and financial advisers Rothschild & Co. in March to help manage its $9.0 billion debt load while navigating current market conditions, Chesapeake management expressed “substantial doubt” that the company would survive, let alone be able to...
May 15, 2020
CM - Prices plunge, and then along comes earnings… - May 2020First-quarter earnings have been mostly painful with the writedowns of billions in impaired oil and gas assets. Exxon Mobil Corp. incurred its first quarterly loss in 32 years (PG.1), ConocoPhillips reported a $1.7 billion loss (PG.12), Hess Corp. a $2.4 billion loss (PG.12), Diamondback Energy Inc. lost $272 million (PG.14) and Concho Resources Inc. has reported quarterly losses in five out of the last 10 quarters but never even close to the almost $9.3 billion (PG.13) it lost in Q1. Reliable...
May 15, 2020
CM - Extraordinary measures to meet extraordinary conditions - April 2020Prevailing market and social conditions have remade goals, guidance and priorities. Most companies have announced that their 2020 annual shareholders meetings will be virtual only. At two virtual meetings, holders of Chesapeake Energy (PG.3) and Nabors Industries (PG.19) common stock voted to allow their boards to reverse-split their shares by ratios of 200:1 and 50:1, respectively. Callon Petroleum (PG.4) will also reverse-split its common, and midstream fund manager Tortoise Energy...
Apr 24, 2020
CM - Chesapeake making moves that look like debt restructuring - April 2020Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced the engagement of restructuring lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and investment bankers at Rothschild & Co. who specialize in reworking debt, sources told Reuters. The company, which had a nearly $9 billion debt load prior to the advent of current market conditions, is evaluating options for its debt, but no particular move was seen as forthcoming, the sources said. In December, the company took out a $1.5 billion term loan despite warning of its...
Apr 03, 2020
A&D - BCE-Mach III to buy Alta Mesa assets & Kingfisher for $320MM - February 2020A federal judge approved the sale of the upstream assets of bankrupt Alta Mesa Resources and its midstream subsidiary, Kingfisher Midstream , to a JV of Bayou City Energy Management and Mach Resources in a Jan. 15 auction for a combined $320 million. The decision came after Judge Marvin Isgur earlier rejected BCEMach III’s combined $310 million stalking-horse bid because he objected to a 3% breakup fee that was a term of that bid. Still, the final bid covers only a portion of Alta Mesa’s...
Feb 06, 2020
A&D - Analyst Notes - February 6, 2020EQT Corp. (EQT; $8.24-Jan. 17; Overweight; PT-$12.50) Given weak natural gas fundamentals, we anticipate an acute focus on the company’s deleveraging program and incremental progress to simplify its services contracts with key midstream partners. To that end, we understand negotiations with Equitrans (ETRN) on a “win-win” adjustment to its services contract (i.e., lower market based gathering fees in exchange for higher MVCs/contract duration) are at an advanced stage, with a potential...
Feb 06, 2020
PS - People & Companies - January 6, 2020Baytex Energy announced that Mark Bly has been appointed chairman. Bly joined the board in 2017 and last March was appointed lead independent director and chair of the human resources and compensation committee. Bly is an independent businessman with over 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, primarily with BP. Chaparral Energy announced that its board has appointed Charles “Chuck” Duginski as president and CEO. Duginski succeeds K. Earl Reynolds in those roles as...
Jan 06, 2020
A&D - Pure Acquisition makes its move in Midland Basin for $1.6B - December 2019More than 19 months after industry veteran Jack Hightower launchedPure Acquisition Corp. with a $414 million initial public offering, the special-purpose acquisition company has found a takeout target very close to home. As part of an initial acquisition valued at $1.575 billion, Pure will acquire the assets of Hightower-led HighPeak Energy Partners, a private E&P company active in the northern Midland Basin with which it shares headquarters in Fort Worth. The blank-check company, which will be...
Dec 19, 2019
CM - Giving credit, guidance and our best for a happy holiday season - December 2019Loans have become the lifeblood of at least two prominent industry players—Chesapeake Energy (PG.1) and McDermott International (PG.15). Chesapeake’s $1.5 billion will help it clear up some older debt, including what it took on when it bought WildHorse Resource Development in February, and McDermott worked with lenders on a workaround to the original terms to gain access to the second tranche of a superpriority loan. Other oilfield services companies, Key Energy Services (PG.15) and...
Dec 13, 2019
CM - People & Companies - December 13, 2019Basic Energy Services, Inc. announced that Anthony J. DiNello resigned from the board of directors, effective Nov. 8. Carbo Ceramics Inc. announced the resignation of Justin H. Wilks as chairman of the board, effective Nov. 13. Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced that Scott A. Gieselman and David W. Hayes resigned from its board of directors on Nov. 15. Both are partners at NGP Energy Capital Management and were the group’s representatives on Chesapeake’s board....
Dec 13, 2019
PS - E&P firms renew search for new targets, play extensions - December 2019Despite the industrywide reduction in activity, E&P companies continue to find upside in core expansion, under-explored formations and newly acquired areas for development. In the Texas part of the Delaware basin, Marathon Oil announced that it has established a new oil play targeting the Woodford and Meramec. The company said it put together a position exceeding 60,000 net acres in Ward County at a low entry cost of $2,400/acre (PG.9). The company has also meaningfully added to its inventory...
Dec 06, 2019