Coronavirus

Houston-based energy manufacturing and logistics firm Phillips 66 is targeting a 2021 capital expenditure (capex) budget of $1.7 billion, down from $3.1 billion year/year. “Our 2021 capital budget is supported by our diversified portfolio, strong financial position and capital discipline,” said CEO Greg Garland. “We continue to focus on reducing capital expenditures as market conditions…

Routed by Covid-19, the Texas upstream oil and gas sector has lost more jobs this year than originally reported, according to a top industry group. Using internal data and information provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, aka Dallas Fed, workforce reductions in the state over the past year are steeper than first estimates,…

Oilfield equipment and services jobs in the United States climbed slightly in November for the third month in a row, but it’s still a tough slog with pandemic-related job losses down by nearly 92,000, according to a new analysis. The Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA) said the domestic oilfield services (OFS) and equipment sectors…

U.S. oil inventories spiked during the week ended Dec. 4 as petroleum demand only ticked up slightly and remained below year-earlier levels amid new economic restrictions imposed to slow coronavirus outbreaks, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), EIA said Wednesday U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those…

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, aka OPEC-plus, on Thursday agreed to boost production beginning in January by 500,000 b/d, ending a multi-day standoff over the timing and volume of an output increase because of concerns that new coronavirus outbreaks could dampen demand into early 2021. The cartel and affiliated countries…

Amid the upheaval imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 global energy consumption in the transportation sector is forecast to decrease 10% year/year, led lower by an 11% drop in oil consumption, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday. This decline is expected to account for nearly two-thirds of the total expected year/year pullback in oil…

Natural gas futures posted a modest gain Tuesday, marking a third consecutive day of advances as traders contemplated a mixed weather outlook and wide-ranging expectations for this week’s early storage report. The December Nymex contract advanced 6.4 cents day/day to settle at $2.775/MMBtu. January rose 7.7 cents to $2.900. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. fell…

Despite strong production levels and festering weather worries, natural gas futures recovered some ground on Friday, as traders saw a buying opportunity after the prompt month shed 12 cents a day earlier and reached its lowest level of the fall months. Futures have in November struggled to maintain momentum amid forecasts for unseasonably warm weather,…

Oil production from U.S. shale plays is likely to hit a floor in 2021 with no further declines expected in a $40 to $45/bbl West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price environment, according to new analysis by Rystad Energy. Output is expected to fall by an estimated 3.1% year/year to 7.5 million b/d in 2020 from 7.7…