E&Ps

Yet another round of losses in the oil patch saw the U.S. rig count slide four units to 247 for the week ended Friday (Aug. 7), according to updated numbers from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR). Total oil-directed rigs in the United States fell four units to 176, while natural gas-directed rigs held steady at 69.…

After curtailing production in the second quarter amid the extraordinary disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Continental Resources Inc. (CLR) expects to boost cash flow at $40/bbl West Texas Intermediate (WTI) pricing as it looks to ramp up output through the end of the year, management said. The Oklahoma City-based independent in its 2Q2020 earnings…

In a further sign that the post-Covid collapse in domestic drilling activity could finally be flattening out, the U.S. rig count finished unchanged at 251 during the week ended Friday (July 31), according to the latest data from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR). A one-rig increase in natural gas-directed rigs offset the departure of one oil-directed…

Apache Corp. has no plans to raise rigs again in the Permian Basin “unless oil prices recover well into the $50s,” CEO John Christmann said Thursday. The Permian, which in recent years had been the Houston independent’s No. 1 prospect, continues to deliver “highly competitive economics,” Christmann said. However, “other areas within our portfolio offer…

Requests for U.S. drilling permits improved in June following a brutal April and May, with the Permian Basin still the top region for operators, according to Evercore ISI. The analyst firm each month compiles permitting statistics for the Lower 48 and offshore using federal and state data. Covid-19 and low commodity prices had crushed permit…

The Haynesville Shale, the second largest dry natural gas producing area in the United States, is positioned for a 20% decline in output and activity to 2023 if Henry Hub prices were to maintain an average of$1.80-1.90/MMBtu.

Upstream capital spending was predicted to make a bit of a comeback from 2019, but all bets are off for 2020 worldwide spending, with the United States likely to take the deepest plunge.

Oil and natural gas development began to fall off a cliff in March from Covid-19 and the poorly timed price war, but initial earnings results for the first quarter point to an even sharper downturn through June, at a minimum.

Texas regulators tabled a decision Tuesday about whether to allow oil production quotas and instead are forming a task force to consider how to aid the state’s ailing energy industry.