MI - SPOT review schedule on hold as EPP gathers more information
- June 2020Enterprise Products Partners LP and Enbridge Inc. told the US Coast Guard and Maritime Administration that they needed more time to provide information about their joint project in Freeport, Texas—Sea Port Oil Terminal. SPOT is being built to load supertankers, specifically VLCCs that can take up to 85,000 bo per hour, or 2 MMbo/d. The application review schedule for the project was suspended after SPOT Terminal Services LLC asked for more time to gather information requested by the...
Jun 17, 2020
CM - Chevron plans worldwide workforce reduction by up to 15% - June 2020Chevron Corp. plans to cut 10-15% of its 45,000-member global workforce. The second-largest oil company in the US had previously disclosed some voluntary job separations as it announced a 30% cut from its 2020 spending to $14 billion in its annual report, but the new plans could reduce staff by as much as 6,750. The cuts will “match projected activity levels,” spokeswoman Veronica FloresPaniagua told Reuters, adding that most of the cuts will be this year and the level of impact would vary by...
Jun 05, 2020
PS - US E&Ps execute significant Q2 oil curtailments - June 2020The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in unprecedented demand destruction for oil markets. The International Energy Agency projects that global demand will fall by a record 9.3 MMbo/d in 2020. In the middle of the lockdown, April demand was down 29 MMbo/d YOY. In response to greatly oversupplied oil markets, OPEC+ agreed in mid-April to cut 9.7 MMbo/d in May and June. The IEA estimated that global output would fall 12 MMbo/d in May. Outside of the OPEC+ cuts, major and independent US producers...
Jun 03, 2020
CM - Chevron issues $8B of bonds, posts 36% higher Q1 net income - May 2020Chevron Corp. may be one of the last supermajors to take advantage of the near-zero Fed funds rate so far this year, but it took its place as one of the biggest. The second-largest oil company in the US launched an $8 billion, seven-tranche bond offering through a 13-member syndicate. Since the beginning of the year, the world’s five supermajors have raised more than $38 billion through debt sales, with Exxon Mobil Corp. claiming $18 billion of it. But this time it was Chevron’s turn, issuing...
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
IS - Chevron completes $1.6B exit from major Caspian project - May 2020Chevron completed the $1.57 billion sale of its stake in the largest oil field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to MOL Group. The Hungarian company acquired 9.57% WI in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field and an 8.9% stake in the Baku-TbilisiCeyhan pipeline, both operated by BP. The disposal marks Chevron’s exit from Azerbaijan. Combined with other recent sales, the deal helped Chevron surpass the midpoint of its 2018-2020 divestment target. MOL described the transaction as a major...
May 08, 2020
MI - Tortoise Energy reverse splitting shares of four of its funds - May 2020Fund manager Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. announced that the common shares of four of its closed-end funds will undergo reverse splits effective at the open of NYSE trading on May 1. The split ratios will be 4:1 each for Tortoise Energy Infrastructure (TYG) and Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund (TTP), 8:1 for Tortoise Energy Independence Fund (NDP) and 10:1 for Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund (NTG). Since the beginning of 2020, TYG has lost 84% of its value. Its top three...
May 06, 2020
OFS - HAL shuts down in Venezuela, expects to lose assets
- April 2020Halliburton is shutting down primary operations in Venezuela after the US Treasury stopped granting waivers from sanctions that allowed it to continue working. The company can do administrative activities and preserve its assets in Venezuela through Dec. 1, Halliburton said in its Securities and Exchange Commission quarterly report filed April 24. “We will cease our primary operations in Venezuela in order to comply with the sanctions,” Halliburton said in its 10-Q. “It is unlikely...
Apr 29, 2020
CM - Tortoise reverse-splitting shares of four of its closed-end funds - April 2020Fund manager Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. announced that the common shares of four of its closed-end funds will undergo reverse splits effective at the open of NYSE trading on May 1. The split ratios will be 4:1 each for Tortoise Energy Infrastructure (TYG) and Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund (TTP), 8:1 for Tortoise Energy Independence Fund (NDP) and 10:1 for Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund (NTG). Since the beginning of 2020, TYG has lost 84% of its value. Its top three...
Apr 24, 2020
CM - Oil in the time of coronavirus - April 2020US oil production has been holding at near record highs even as demand for gasoline falls, but it’s coming under pressure to tap the breaks on pumping out high volumes that are helping to bring prices down to historic lows and pushing cash-strapped companies to bankruptcy. Whiting Petroleum (PG.1) is the first high-profile shale producer to file a petition in what analysts believe may be a new parade of Chapter 11 filings. Oil executives themselves have asked the Texas Railroad Commission to...
Apr 03, 2020
CM - Permian to lose $2B as Chevron cuts 20% from 2020 budget - April 2020As part of its 20% reduction in spending this year to $16 billion, supermajor Chevron Corp. will slash $2 billion from its upstream unconventional budget, primarily in the Permian Basin, the company announced March 24. Other upstream cuts include $700 million in projects and exploration and $500 million in its base business, spread across its US and international assets. Downstream and chemicals will have $800 million stricken from the budgets as well, as chairman and CEO Michael Wirth...
Apr 03, 2020
IS - Petronas and Exxon mull sale of Chad-Cameroon oil project - March 2020Petronas and ExxonMobil are working with advisers on a proposed sale of their stakes in the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline project that could fetch a total of more than $1 billion, Japanese wealth management firm Osaka Matsui Management said in a March 10 statement. The joint project consists of oil fields in southern Chad’s Doba Basin and a major pipeline transporting crude to a marine terminal for exportation in Cameroon. Exxon has retained Standard Chartered to sell...
Mar 24, 2020
A&D - Oil market disruptions prompt companies to pause on M&A - March 2020With the coronavirus outbreak here in the US, we wish our readers safety and health during this difficult time. After an already slow start to M&A for 2020, the fall of oil prices occasioned by the decline of demand because of the outbreak and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia has prompted companies to exercise even greater caution in executing deals. The most significant M&A developments over the last few weeks have been the completion of deals struck in late 2019 and a few...
Mar 19, 2020
IS - Prime stake pays off for Africa Oil with $62.5MM dividend - February 2020Flush with $62.5 million in fresh cash from its first dividend from 50:50 JV Prime Oil & Gas BV, Africa Oil Corp. said it will pay off some of its $250 million in debt incurred to help buy the JV stake. Prime, which was formerly known as Petrobras Oil & Gas BV and holds stakes in deepwater Nigerian fields, distributed a $125 million total dividend payment to its two owners, Africa Oil and Brazilian bank BGT Pactual. Africa Oil CEO Keith Hill said the dividend came less than a...
Feb 11, 2020
MI - Pipelines & Projects Briefs - June 17, 2020A segment of Magellan Midstream Partners’ 12-inch pipeline originating near Magellan’s west Tulsa terminal was inadvertently struck by mechanized equipment working to install a new replacement section of pipeline, releasing diesel fuel in the immediate area on June 8. This segment of Magellan’s pipeline system, inactive at the time of the incident, transports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Tulsa to destinations in Kansas and other Midwestern locations. No injuries or residential evacuations...
Jun 17, 2020