Coronavirus

The recovery in global oil demand will limp along early in 2021 but should quicken in the second half of the year, as coronavirus vaccine distribution efforts make headway and travel increases, both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, aka OPEC, said in new forecasts this month.  In…

Global natural gas demand is expected to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels this year, but the recovery is likely to be uneven and growth could be weak even after demand soared amid a historic cold snap this winter.  “We opened the year with this very strong bull run in Asia, which I would say was…

Plains All American LP remains in maintenance mode for now, but it has plenty of operational flexibility to accommodate production growth from the Permian Basin that may arise following the rapid uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude is nearing $60/bbl, but CEO Willie Chiang expects to see only “modest growth” out of the…

Employment in the U.S. oilfield services (OFS) and equipment sector climbed for the fifth consecutive month in January, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and analysis by the Energy Workforce and Technology Council. “After shedding nearly 102,000 jobs from March to August due to pandemic-related demand destruction, the upstream oil…

Oil consumption will rise in 2021 alongside a global economic recovery and increased travel, though demand this year is not likely to match the levels prior to the pandemic, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. In a supplement to its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) report, the agency forecast global oil consumption would gather…

The Lower 48’s ample supply of drilled but uncompleted wells, aka DUCs, is coming down at a quick pace and is expected to reach “normal” levels by year’s end, tightening the oil supply according to Raymond James & Associates Inc. In a note to clients, Raymond James analyst John Freeman made the case that the…

The U.S. oil and gas industry shed more than 160,000 direct jobs in 2020, with nearly half of those losses coming in Texas amid the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, an annual assessment of the sector shows. In its State of Energy Report, the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) said the oil…

The craterous impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on energy demand is likely to ripple out into the next decade, with consumption potentially not returning to pre-pandemic levels until 2029 or later, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest long-term projections. The agency’s 2021 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO2021), released on Wednesday, projects changes…

ExxonMobil on Tuesday pledged $3 billion to lower emissions in a bid to bolster its environmental record even as it slashed overall capital spending and vowed to safeguard its dividend. Executives, while declining to directly address a news report that ExxonMobil and fellow supermajor Chevron Corp. had discussed a potential tie-up, also said they continue…