Aramco to Restart IPO Preparations

Saudi Arabia is restarting preparations for a potential initial public offering of oil giant Aramco, months after putting the planned listing on hold, people familiar with the matter said. Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, recently held talks with a select group of investment banks to discuss potential roles on the offering, according to the […]

Buying Into the Energy Transition

New energy’s time has come. It’s less than four years since the Paris Agreement set the long-term goal to limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2°C. Back then, the oil and gas industry had zero appetite to invest in decarbonization. Paris lit the fuse. I caught up with Valentina Kretzschmar, Research Director, […]

Is ExxonMobil Making a Strategic Mistake?

Integrated energy giants Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS-B) and Total (NYSE:TOT) have both made significant investments in the electric- and renewable-power spaces, preparing for a future with less carbon-based fuels. ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) isn’t following them down this road, instead redoubling its efforts on oil, natural gas, and the products they are turned into. Why is Exxon […]

Saudi Aramco allows sneak peek into its finances

The company’s mammoth $12bn global bond offering allowed a glimpse into its treasure chest for the first time The world’s focus, not surprisingly, has been on Saudi Aramco’s $111bn of net income recorded in 2018, making it the most profitable company in the world. But elements of the upstream story were largely ignored. For example, […]

Well, It’s Growing: The Shale Revolution

Summary Only 10% of shale companies had a positive cash balance for Q1’19. Mother Nature has production limits, and there is speculation that the shale industry has reached them. Having exposure to different phases of exploration helps oil companies diversify their revenue base. The U.S. is a leader in the shale revolution. EOG Resources has […]

A “Gusher Of Red Ink” For US Shale

Oil prices are off more about 20 percent in the last two weeks on growing fears of a brewing economic recession. Commodities of all types have been hammered by the pessimism. “Fear of global economic growth slowing,” said Peter Kiernan, lead energy analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), according to Reuters, “afflicting the entire energy […]

Physical Oil Traders Are Desperate for Crude

From Colombia to the North Sea, the Middle East to Texas, the global market for crude cargoes is becoming tighter by the week as supplies grow more constrained and risks to production spiral. Prices for actual barrels from the North Sea, Asia, and the Americas are now trading at the highest in half a decade. […]

Top Fossil Fuel & Utilities Companies Didn’t Pay Any Federal Income Taxes Last Year

Most people in the U.S. need to pay federal income taxes – but dozens of the most profitable U.S. corporations do not. A recent report by the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy finds that 60 profitable companies that are on the Fortune 500 list paid no federal income taxes in 2018. These include many […]

Chevron Backs Its Anadarko Deal

Chevron’s signed agreement with Anadarko provides the best value and the most certainty to Anadarko’s shareholders. That’s what Chevron believes, a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement sent to Rigzone late Wednesday. Chevron revealed on April 12 that it had entered into an agreement to buy Anadarko. Following this agreement, Occidental announced on April 24 […]

Aramco eclipses top earner Apple ahead of debut $10 bln-plus bond sale

Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, made core earnings of $224 billion last year, almost three times as much as Apple, figures from the state-owned company showed on Monday ahead of its debut international bond issue. Previously reluctant to disclose its financials, Aramco had to reveal them in order to obtain a public rating […]

Oil traders are now watching workers’ phones to spot problems at refineries

In the $40 trillion global oil-trading market, the smallest clue can be worth millions. Take the number of people working at a refinery: Outside contractors are brought in for routine maintenance or to handle accidents that could limit demand for crude oil or curb the supply of fuels. While oil companies rarely reveal such sensitive […]

Flashback: Peak Oil

Figure it was an early Christmas present for folks who still fret over America’s energy security. On November 28, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Interior released its confirmation of huge new oil and gas reserves in West Texas and running west across New Mexico and into Arizona. Officials said that formations in the Delaware […]

Oil Prices Are at Risk of Spiking as the Venezuelan Crisis Deepens

The global oil market is a delicate thing. While roughly 100 million barrels per day (BPD) move around the world, the slightest change in the level of either supply or demand can wreak havoc on oil prices. That was abundantly evident last fall, when crude prices crashed 40% after supplies outpaced demand by around 2 […]

Exxon’s Billions Could Spawn a Permian Monster

Exxon Mobil Corp. took four hours on Wednesday morning to tell investors: “Hold on a bit, we got this.” But investors aren’t in a patient mood with high-spending oil and gas companies, and Exxon’s capital-expenditure budget – summary: not much change from $35 billion a year – drew the unsurprising response. Yet, looking beyond the next couple of […]

Big Oil Thinks Its Real Problem Might Be You

Two things to bear in mind when someone tells you they suffer from a problem of perception. First, perception shapes and sometimes outright supplants reality. Second, the complaint comes with a subtext of “it’s not me, it’s you.” Which brings us to Big Oil. Speaking at an industry conference in London last week, Amin Nasser, chief […]

Mexican president announces bailout for cash-strapped Pemex

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced a $3.9 billion bailout for the country’s cash-strapped, state-owned oil company Friday and promised it an additional $1.6 billion in revenue, making it a rescue package of up to $5.5 billion. Lopez Obrador has made rescuing Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, a centerpiece of his first 100 days in […]

Saudi Aramco Is Coming Out to Play

According to Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy and industry minister and chairman of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., “the world is going to be Saudi Aramco’s playground.” If it is, then that will be partly because some others have ceded ground. In an interview with the Financial Times published this week, Al-Falih sketched out plans for Saudi […]

Who Will Get Citgo?

A dispute over a $626,860 deposit at Wells Fargo & Co. during the Chinese Revolution offers a glimpse into who may eventually control Citgo Petroleum in the current Venezuelan power struggle. Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly, is trying to wrest ownership of Houston-based Citgo away from the current Venezuelan regime led by […]

The U.S. Faces A Catastrophic Food Supply Crisis In America As Farmers Struggle

American farmers are battling several issues when it comes to producing our food.  Regulated low prices, tariffs, and the inability to export have all cut into the salaries of farmers.  They are officially in crisis mode, just like the United States’ food supply. “The farm economy’s in pretty tough shape,” said John Newton, chief economist at the […]

ExxonMobil gambles on growth

OFF THE coast of Guyana, 160km beyond the ramshackle, rainbow-coloured roofs and the sea wall meant to protect the low-lying capital, past the mud flats and into the deep, churning Atlantic, a vast drilling vessel sits almost perfectly still. Thrusters work constantly to keep the boat’s centre within a three-metre radius above a well head […]

Oil Supermajors Smash Analyst Estimates

The world’s biggest oil companies are pumping out cash like crude’s at $100 a barrel again, and investors love it. Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp. and BP Plc smashed analysts’ earnings estimates for the fourth quarter, giving investors assurance that their dividends and buybacks are secure even with oil trading near […]

Peak Gold and the Coming Supply Crunch

During the lackluster and otherwise unremarkable trading of 2018, a hugely important development took place in the precious metals markets. Gold production, in the estimation of some top industry insiders, peaked. Peak gold represents the point at which the total number of ounces being pulled out of the ground by miners reaches a maximum. It […]

Saudi Arabia looking to buy ‘billions of dollars’ of US natural gas assets

From Reuters: Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil producer, is looking to acquire natural gas assets in the United States and is willing to spend “billions of dollars” to become a global gas player, the company’s CEO said on Tuesday. Amin Nasser told Reuters in an interview that his company wants to increase its U.S. […]

Fracking in 2018: Another Year of Pretending to Make Money

2018 was the year the oil and gas industry promised that its darling, the shale fracking revolution, would stop focusing on endless production and instead turn a profit for its investors. But as the year winds to a close, it’s clear that hasn’t happened. Instead, the fracking industry has helped set new records for U.S. oil production while continuing to lose […]

How to Value an Oil and Gas Company

In part one of this series, we looked the structure of the oil market, the defining features of the companies that comprise it and the factors affecting oil price. In part two, we will introduce some metrics commonly used to model future cash flows in order to more accurately value these businesses. Cash is king In […]

Mexico Confirms It Completed 2019 Oil Hedge at $55 a Barrel

Mexico’s Finance Ministry confirmed that it spent about $1.23 billion to protect 2019 revenues against falling crude prices in the world’s largest annual oil deal. The oil producer locked in hedges at $55 a barrel, equivalent to the price approved by lawmakers for the 2019 budget, according to a Finance Ministry statement. The total expense […]

The Scenarios Of The Collapse – “The World Is Utterly Unprepared”

2019 has started more calmly after a very volatile year-end in the markets. Focus has been on the trade deal between China and the US and the words of the central bankers, most notably those of Jay Powell. However, this is all just a distraction, a side-show. The market volatility was only the first sign […]

How a Global Collapse Will Affect American Farmers

Are we heading for a global financial collapse? What can we expect from the trade wars? Should we build a wall? Geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan will be sharing his answers to those questions, and many more, at the Land Investment Expo on Friday, January 25, 2019, at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. […]

China taking on U.S. dollar, forging ahead in digital payment

  While China has made major strides in catching up with the United States in terms of economic power, it still lags far behind in finance. In various ways, the dollar still reigns supreme over the yuan. However, that is not stopping China from carving out new sectors of influence in digital technology and artificial […]

Exxon asks EPA to regulate methane emissions from oil and gas

Flames from a flaring pit near a well in the Bakken Oil Field in North Dakota. Photo: Orjan F. Ellingvag/Corbis via Getty Images ExxonMobil Corp., the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company, is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions of methane from all new and existing oil and gas wells across the […]

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