Capex

North American exploration spending in 2019 is tracking higher for the third consecutive year, albeit at a slower pace, with natural gas-heavy budgets poised to reset higher, while oil operators weigh the implications of extended lower prices.

The deepwater oil and gas industry has come out of its sustained downturn, but it now faces impending cyclical cost inflation that could wreak havoc on its work to cut expenses, according to Wood Mackenzie.

U.S. land activity for drilling rig specialist Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P) increased nearly 6% in fiscal 4Q2018, with spot pricing up about 5%, the Tulsa-based operator said Friday.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is promising more production on a leaner budget in 2019, even as it gears investments to a conservative $3.00/Mcf natural gas price and $50/bbl oil.

U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies slightly increased their 2018 oil hedging during the second quarter, with 2019 still around normal levels, even though oil futures inched above long-term budgets of $50-55/bbl, according to a review by Goldman Sachs.

Strong well results in Oklahoma’s STACK, aka the Sooner Trend of the Anadarko Basin, mostly in Canadian and Kingfisher counties, helped lift Chaparral Energy Inc.’s production by 44% year/year (y/y) in the second quarter and prompted the pure-player to raise its capital spend and production guidance for the year.

Driven by record production from the Permian Basin, including a near-70% increase in natural gas output from No. 1 prospect Alpine High, Apache Corp. is boosting its capital spending this year by $400 million to $3.4 billion.

The liquid fuels storage business has emerged as a primary growth engine for Infraestructura Energética Nova (IEnova) as global refiners seek to offload their products to a hungry Mexican market.

The global oil and gas industry has begun its second year of recovery, but capital spending only climbed last year by about half as much as originally budgeted, and it is poised to surge this year, according to a survey by Raymond James & Associates Inc.