Oil Production

North Dakota’s Bakken Shale oil production under-performed in its most recent monthly statistics, reflecting a “serious shortage of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) crews,” the state’s chief oil/natural gas regulator Lynn Helms reported Tuesday. Helms told a webinar with reporters that he expects to see improvement in the summer months, but the May statistics — 34.9 million…

Citing the current oil and natural gas commodity price environment and what makes the most sense on a capital investment basis, Whiting Petroleum Corp. on Wednesday doubled down on its exploration and production operations in the Bakken Shale of North Dakota. At the same time, it jettisoned all of the company’s oil and natural gas…

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allied group of leading oil producers headed by Russia, aka OPEC-plus, on Sunday reached a deal to further boost production through the end of the year and into 2022. The member countries, led by Saudi Arabia, committed to bringing back all the crude supply they had…

In its first detailed estimates for 2022, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Thursday global crude demand would increase through next year as coronavirus vaccination efforts expand and consumption of travel fuel mounts. In its closely watched Monthly Oil Market report, OPEC said demand next year would increase by 3.3 million b/d…

Permian Basin producer Laredo Petroleum Inc. has revised its 2021 capital expenditure (capex) guidance upward following its acquisition of Sabalo Energy LLC’s assets in Howard County, TX, for roughly $715 million. Laredo now expects capex to total $420 million from previous guidance of $360 million, management said Thursday in an update. “As we integrate Sabalo’s…

Brent crude prices gained $5/bbl from May to June and are on track to average $72 during the second half of 2021 (2H2021), the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in an updated forecast published Wednesday. Brent prices rose to $73 in June, up $5 month/month and up $33 from year-ago prices, EIA said. Rising production…

After cutting its dividend at the height of the pandemic last year, Royal Dutch Shell plc plans to give back to shareholders, with distributions set to rise on an improving commodity price outlook. The Anglo-Dutch supermajor previewed its 2Q2021 results on Wednesday, ahead of reporting on July 29. Shareholders had endured a dividend cut in…

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, aka OPEC-plus, scrapped plans to restart production talks this week after meetings held before the July 4 holiday failed to reach a deal on output policy. The cartel did not set a date to resume talks, leaving the group with no plan for increased production…

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, aka OPEC-plus, debated on Thursday a proposal to further boost crude oil production, anticipating steadily increasing demand for travel fuels in the second half of 2021. Citing successful vaccination efforts and economic momentum in leading countries such as the United States and China, the Saudi…