Nearly two years into an epic oil rout, U.S. shale drillers that have upended global energy markets are finally feeling a credit squeeze as banks make their biggest cuts yet to their loans. Every six months, oil and gas producers and their banks negotiate how much credit they should be given based on the value… Continue Reading »
Natural gas producers are finally realizing that the age-old adage is true: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Explorers have idled drilling equipment at historic rates — a drop in prices has resulted in the fewest rigs in at least three decades searching for new output. Southwestern Energy Co., the third-largest U.S…. Continue Reading »
The University of Texas is looking for new ways to cash in on 2.1 million acres of prime oil assets obtained through land grants more than a century ago. What is now viewed as some of the richest oil land in the world was initially seen as a money maker from cattle grazing. After 1923,… Continue Reading »
SandRidge Energy Inc confirmed on Wednesday it has hired advisers to evaluate options including a bankruptcy filing, in what could be the most high-profile reorganization yet in U.S. shale oil industry. The company, battered by a 60 percent slide in oil prices since mid-2014, said in a regulatory filing there was substantial doubt about its… Continue Reading »
Even in a world awash with crude, buyers in the world’s biggest oil market can’t seem to escape their addiction to Middle East supplies. South Korea’s imports from the Middle East climbed last year to the highest level since at least 1980, while refiners in India say they are shunning shipments from distant ports and… Continue Reading »
BP plc and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have signed the first production sharing contract (PSC) for shale gas exploration, development and production in the Neijiang-Dazu block in the Sichuan Basin, China. The contract will cover an area of approximately 1,500 square kilometers and positions CNPC as the operator of the project. This PSC is… Continue Reading »
TransCanada Corp. agreed to buy Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. for $10.2 billion, expanding its reach in the U.S. natural gas market. TransCanada will pay $25.50 a share to Columbia holders, representing a 10.9 percent premium to Columbia’s closing price on March 16, and will also assume about $2.8 billion of debt, it said in a… Continue Reading »
Linn Energy LLC said a bankruptcy filing may be “unavoidable” as the struggling oil-and-gas producer stares at defaults on interest payments amid a slump in oil prices. The company, which operates in California, Wyoming and North Dakota shale fields, also said there was substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a “going concern” after… Continue Reading »
Hedge funds are the most bullish on oil in almost a year as the U.S. shale boom unravels and demand for gasoline strengthens. Signs that producers won’t be able to sustain a supply glut are intensifying, with the International Energy Agency calling a bottom for the price rout. U.S. output is near a 15-month low… Continue Reading »
U.S. shale oil production in April is expected to chalk up the second-largest monthly decline on record, and the sixth straight monthly decrease, a U.S. government forecast released on Monday showed. Total output is expected to fall by 106,000 barrels per day to 4.87 million bpd, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) drilling… Continue Reading »
