Shale News

A latest research revealed that the upstream sector accounted for the bulk of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global oil and gas industry in 2019, generating some high-value transactions during the process.According to GlobalData's theme report, ‘M&A in Oil and Gas – 2020’, the acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum by Occidental Petroleum in April 2019 for a purchase consideration of US$57bn was the highlight of oil and gas M&A activity last year, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.Ravindra Puranik, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, said: “In 2019, the upstream sector, more specifically the US shale plays, witnessed the highest deal activity in the oil and gas industry.

Houston-based Castleton Resources said that its subsidiary Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI) has closed on the acquisition of the East Texas and North Louisiana Haynesville Shale assets of BG US Production Company LLC, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Pro forma for the acquisition, Castleton Resources will hold approximately 222,400 net acres in the region and produce approximately 334 MMcfe/d (net). Castleton Resources is owned by CCI and Tokyo Gas America Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. Concurrent with the transaction, Tokyo Gas America Ltd. will increase its interest in Castleton Resources from 30% to approximately 46%.

ESAI Energy, an oil & energy data provider, believes both the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are overly optimistic in their November projections of US crude oil production in 2020, according to the company’s latest North America Watch.ESAI Energy sees a deceleration in growth to about 650,000 b/d next year, in contrast to the EIA and IEA forecasts of 1.0 million b/d and 900,000 b/d, respectively.ESAI points to declining capital expenditures by many shale producers in response to investor pressure to spend within cash flow, a service sector that is idling equipment and laying off workers…

U.S. shale operators are on track to grow 2019 oil production by around 16% over 2018 thanks to impressive operational execution so far this year.The third quarter earnings season revealed that shale companies increased their oil production by about two percent, all while cutting the midpoint guidance for yearly drilling and completions expenses, according to Rystad Energy.The energy research and consulting firm headquartered in Norway said that U.S. shale operators will continue expanding in the fourth quarter, growing oil production by at least 1.3 percent on a quarterly basis.“The actual results so far this year reaffirm our optimistic expectations for the remainder of the year.

Frac water demand is expected to increase 30% by 2022, with 53% of that increase taking place in the Permian Basin, said Rystad Energy in its recently released “Water Management Report”.The increase in water demand is mostly driven by increases in forecasted completions activity, and the continued trend towards longer laterals.Rystad Energy expects frac water demand across the US to hit 4.9 billion barrels in 2019, with 2.28 billion barrels taking place in the Permian Basin.Rystad Energy normally defines spare capacity as a country’s underutilized capacity, including any current outages.

Though bankruptcies among U.S. onshore exploration and production (E&P) companies are on the increase during these days, Rystad Energy doesn’t believe this indicates doom for the shale industry.“In a nutshell, we do not believe the recent bankruptcies that have beset a number of shale players are indicative of an industry-wide epidemic,” says Alisa Lukash, a senior analyst on Rystad Energy’s North American Shale team.During the next seven years, the top 40 US shale oil producers are expected to spend about $100 billion on debt instalments and interest unless further debt refinancing is applied.These drillers, which accounted for nearly half of US shale crude production in 2018…

US shale supply will peak at approximately 14.5 million barrels per day (bpd) around 2030, said the energy research and business intelligence company Rystad Energy.In the past decade, crude oil coming from shale patches such as the Permian in the US has grown from a negligible contributor to an upstream behemoth, reshaping the industry and the oil market.US Light Tight Oil (LTO) represented less than 1% of global oil supply just nine years ago. Today, US LTO represents close to 10% of total global oil supply, a percentage which is expected to continue its ascent going forward. But by how much? That is the million-dollar question.Different agencies and knowledge houses have responded to this with varying degrees of positivity and skepticism.

Natural gas flaring in the Permian dropped in the first quarter of 2019 – the first drop in one-and-a-half years, according to energy research firm Rystad Energy.Rystad Energy has been closely monitoring the level of natural gas flaring in the Permian since 2017. "Our previous quarterly estimate suggested that basin-wide gas flaring reached record-high levels of beyond 660 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019," it said.However, just released final data for the first quarter of 2019 have led to a downward revision of our previous flaring estimate by 7%, to 613 MMcfd.“This is the first time that has happened over the past 1.5 years.

Though the Permian Basin still dominates US land drilling, the pace of growth in this region has slowed significantly.Older tight oil wells decline by 20% per year without material intervention, according to Rystad Energy.Contrary to common belief, the Permian Basin systematically offers the lowest oil decline rates, along with the Bakken Shale.In turn, the Eagle Ford and DJ basins exhibit steeper decline rates throughout the first eight years of production across most vintages.Rystad Energy has examined all horizontal oil-producing wells in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Permian and DJ Basins, turned-in-line between 2011 and 2017 with at least 24 months of reported production.The resulting sample includes 146,158 annualized production data points from 46,188 wells.

In a remarkable turnaround, the second quarter of 2019 is the first three-month period on record when US shale operators achieved positive cash flow from operations after accounting for capital expenditures, according to Rystad Energy.Rystad Energy has studied the financial performance of 40 dedicated US shale oil companies, focusing on cash flow from operating activities (CFO). This is the cash that is available to expand the business (via capital expenditure, or capex), reduce debt, or return to shareholders.In the second quarter of 2019, 35% of operators in the peer group balanced their spending with operational cash flow, and reported an accumulated $110 million surplus in CFO versus capex.“That is an industry first,” says Rystad Energy senior analyst Alisa Lukash.

Russian giant Gazprom saw the most production growth among world’s exploration and production (E&P) companies during the five-year span from 2014 through 2018.It’s followed by Chinese player PetroChina Company Limited and U.S. shale company EQT Corporation ranking second and third, respectively, said energy research firm Rystad Energy.Onshore resources – whether conventional or unconventional – are a major driver of growth, it said.“Gazprom, the clear leader in production growth, is the only company with a total growth of more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) over the last five years,” said Espen Erlingsen, Rystad’s head of upstream research.

Hydraulic fracturing operations in the Permian shattered old records in June. The prolific shale basin in Texas and parts of New Mexico in the US has reached new heights in terms of the number of fracked wells – both on a daily basis and in terms of absolute monthly wells. Rystad Energy estimates there were as many as 18 wells fracked per day across the entire Permian Basin, or almost 550 wells during the month of June. Previously, fracking in the Permian peaked at approximately 520 wells fracked in August 2018, while the peak daily rate was reached in February earlier this year.“The Midland platform has undoubtedly been the driver of this upwards trend with consistent month-over-month increases…

The increased output from the Permian Basin, located in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico, has been the biggest contributor to the growth of super majors.A handful of industry insiders have recently speculated that the Permian may be on its way out, noting that well productivity in the Permian is declining. In fact, the truth is quite the opposite, said Rystad Energy.E&P operators active in the Permian Basin, spanning parts of Texas and New Mexico in the US, have been facing a growing number of concerns about the ability of the industry to achieve additional improvements in well productivity.Some market participants argue that the average well performance in the Permian is already declining…

With offshore market gaining momentum the main driver of employment is shifting from shale to offshore.According to new analysis by energy research firm Rystad Energy, increased activity in onshore shale basins such as the Permian in the US held employment in the oilfield service industry steady from 2016 to 2017.However, the offshore industry has now taken the lead, gradually increasing the overall headcount of the top 50 oilfield service companies from 2017 to 2018, the report said.“This is a clear effect of the increase in offshore sanctioning. We expect offshore commitments to nearly double from 2018 to 2020, and sustain high levels of spending over the next five years…

Fracking operations across the US have realized a material uptick in June this year after an essentially flat trend from February to May, when activity was still in recovery mode after a seasonal winter dip.According to Rystad Energy, the June rebound is a welcome signal that positions US fracking to enter the second half of 2019 with gusto.According to the preliminary estimate for June by the energy research and business intelligence company,  fracking in the US came in at 47 wells per day, an increase by two daily wells from an average of 45 wells per day over the spring months.The June frac rate is still approximately 7% behind the peak level observed last year…

Only four, out of the financial performance of 40 dedicated US shale oil firms under study, reported a positive cash flow balance in the first quarter of 2019, bringing down the share of companies with a positive cash flow balance from the recent norm of around 20% to just 10%.Nine in ten US shale oil companies are burning cash, according to Rystad Energy.Total cash flow from operating activities (CFO) fell from $14 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018 to $9.9 billion in the first quarter of 2019.“That is the lowest CFO we have seen since the fourth quarter of 2017,” says Alisa Lukash, Senior Analyst on Rystad Energy’s North American Shale team.“The gap between capex and CFO has reached a staggering $4.7 billion.

United States shale operators are on track to increase oil production by 16 percent in 2019, according to analysis by energy research firm Rystad Energy.The growth in US onshore production from the first quarter through the fourth quarter could come in at around 1.1-1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), or 16% for the full year, according to Rystad Energy.After a paltry first quarter, depressed by weather effects, US shale players have over the past weeks assured investors that they will achieve previously communicated production targets, as well as demonstrate excellent capital discipline and cost control.“Despite temporary challenges faced in the beginning of the year…

North American tight oil is emerging as the second cheapest source of new oil volumes globally, just shy of the Middle East onshore market, Rystad Energy said.The U.S. shale oil was the world’s second most expensive oil resource just four years ago, the energy research and business intelligence company pointed out.“As the majors are struggling to replace conventional liquids, a wealthy source of additional resources is tight oil,” says Espen Erlingsen, Head of Upstream Research at Rystad Energy.Tight oil – such as onshore shale oil in the US – has witnessed an impressive turnaround over the last few years. In 2015, North American shale ranked as the second most expensive resource according to Rystad Energy’s global liquids cost curve…

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. The explanation relates in part to the difference in base production, it said.As of 2018, Chevron’s unconventional output in the Permian was 75% higher than ExxonMobil’s…

The horizontal re-frac market within the US onshore scene has boomed in the recent years, with the number of horizontal re-frac jobs increasing every year over the last 10 years, said a report.According to Rystad Energy, the energy research and business intelligence company, in 2009, fewer than 10 wells were re-fracked, but in 2018 that number ballooned to more than 550 wells.New 2018 data is still preliminary amid some reporting delays for frac jobs in the fourth quarter of 2018. However Rystad Energy’s initial analysis reveals some interesting insights regarding the state of re-fracking.One key takeaway is that, despite an increase in the number of re-fracked wells…

The new median estimate for nationwide fracking activity in December 2018 suggests 36 frac jobs per day, said a research.The energy research and business intelligence company Rystad Energy revealed in a study that 25% contraction in fracking activity between the peak in May-August 2018 and the end of the last year.It should be noted that in both November and December 2018 fracking activity level exhibits negative year-over-year change, it said."There is no doubt that significant part of this decline was driven by seasonal weather and capital constraint factors," the study said."Yet we keep hearing about somewhat disappointing pace of post-winter recovery.

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, while others say operational cash flow from shale wells will never be sufficient to cover corporate costs and old debt.Analysts and investors are now waiting to see…

U.S. shale energy companies are cutting their spending levels in 2019, but they're still planning on increased oil and gas output."US shale companies expect to deliver an average of 15% growth in oil production in 2019 vs. 2018. At the same time, operators say they will cut capital spending by 5% this year," said an analysis from Rystad Energy.The  energy research and business intelligence company has analyzed the recently released earnings reports for the fourth quarter of 2018 from 45 US operators, which also included their guidance for production and capital expenditure in the year ahead.“Earnings and guidance confirm that most US shale operators aim to moderate drilling and completion activity this year…