Coronavirus

The start of the second quarter has not been a good one for the oil and gas industry, as it appears no global operator will be spared from the devastating oil price war and deadly coronavirus pandemic.

BP plc on Wednesday cut capital spending for 2020 by one-quarter, with the Lower 48 exploration budget sliced by half as the supermajor defends itself from the global pandemic and low oil prices.

BP plc on Wednesday cut capital spending for 2020 by one-quarter, with the Lower 48 exploration budget sliced by half as the supermajor defends itself from the global pandemic and low oil prices.

Australia-based LNG Ltd. (LNGL), which is developing export terminals for the Gulf Coast and Canada, said Friday that its takeover by a private company in Singapore is likely to take longer because of problems created by the coronavirus outbreak.

Australia-based LNG Ltd. (LNGL), which is developing export terminals for the Gulf Coast and Canada, said Friday that its takeover by a private company in Singapore is likely to take longer because of problems created by the coronavirus outbreak.

Vitol Inc. CEO Russell Hardy said Friday the Swiss commodities giant expects liquefied natural gas (LNG) to account for a growing share of revenue, as delivered volumes rose 35% to 10.5 million metric tons (mmt) in 2019.

The oilfield services (OFS) sector was under pressure before the oil price war was launched and Covid-19 became a pandemic, but the future of many companies appears to hang on a thin thread, battered by the outbreak and plunging oil market. One analyst predicted up to one million jobs could be lost, mostly in the onshore sector.

As natural gas and oil markets have spiraled into unprecedented territory in part on uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, a slew of energy companies has stepped up as stewards in many communities across the Lower 48 and abroad.

Equinor ASA’s Lower 48 operations, mostly centered in the Marcellus and Bakken shales, have been suspended, as it attempts to stem the bleeding across the energy sector from the global pandemic and stinging oil price war.