U.S. oil producers are delivering productivity gains across Texas, unlocking more output, bringing down costs, and helping navigate ongoing market uncertainties. Several producers, such as EOG Resources, Inc., Diamondback Energy, Inc. and Devon Energy Corporation, raised output forecasts during the third quarter, resulting from higher well productivity than expected. Efficiency and productivity gains are being driven through improved cycle times, new technology and greater collaboration, the companies reported. EOG Resources EOG Resources is one of several companies to report up to 20 per cent ..read more

Asia-Pacific gas demand is forecast to grow by at least 50 per cent by 2040, but only the lowest cost LNG suppliers will win a piece of this demand, according to a just released Evaluate Energy Briefing Note: Linking North American LNG Supply to Asia-Pacific Markets. Because Asia-Pacific countries have sustained demand, they want to enter or renew long-term contracts to ensure lower cost supply, rather than taking the European approach of shorter-term contracts or relying on spot cargoes from portfolio players. As of 2023, 146 long-term contracts, covering 195 mtpa of volume, exist in Asia. T ..read more

The Ukraine war has brought energy affordability and security to the forefront, with countries around the world looking to lock-in long term supply for industrial feedstock and electricity generation. With its lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to coal, natural gas demand is growing in Europe as countries look to replace Russian supply while managing climate change commitments. In the Asia Pacific, demand is increasing for petrochemical, fertilizer, steel, and cement production to meet economic growth targets, along with increasing public demands for reliable, affordable electricity. Inc ..read more

Record-breaking productivity levels and low-cost production have seen the Permian Basin attract major M&A activity in the U.S. upstream sector. In fact, following ExxonMobil’s $64.5 billion mega-deal to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources, Evaluate Energy data shows that the basin has now passed $400 billion in new deals agreed over the past decade. For comparison, U.S. deals agreed without any Permian assets now account for $375 billion combined after Chevron’s own $60 billion mega-deal to acquire Hess Corp. was announced this week. Deal values approach $100 billion in 2023 alone Deals inv ..read more

As Chevron doubles-down on future, sustained oil and gas demand, its acquisition today of Hess Corp. increases Chevron’s proved reserves by 11% to approx. 12.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, based on latest annual figures available via Evaluate Energy. Source: Evaluate Energy Global production of the combined entity is 13% higher than Chevron’s latest production rate, based on Q2 data analysis today by our London team at Evaluate Energy. The new total production worldwide is 3.3m boe/day. Of that, US production will total 1.4m boe/day – a 17% increase for Chevron based on Q2 production ..read more

Q3 upstream oil and gas M&A spending was 34% below the five-year quarterly average and 42% down on Q2 with $21 billion in new deals announced. Full deal details are available within Evaluate Energy’s M&A database. Click here for details. Key Q3 observations Eight of the top 10 deals by value were oil-focused. View the top 10 deals of Q3 at this link. Payback multiples remain low: median EBITDA multiples were 2.9x compared to 7x over the past decade.This indicates the market has little faith in the current high earnings environment continuing in the medium- to long-term. 78% of dea ..read more

The largest upstream deals of Q3 2023 were almost exclusively in the United States, where four of the five Q3 deals valued at over $1 billion took place. While a major asset sale in Oman, LNG investments in Australia and corporate mergers in Africa, Canada and Europe also cracked the top 10 this quarter, the U.S. continues its long-term domination of the upstream M&A space. In fact, Evaluate Energy data shows that 70% of Q3’s global upstream M&A spending was focused on U.S. assets. Evaluate Energy’s full review of Q3 activity is available now. It includes more on these regional trends ..read more

ConocoPhillips advanced its LNG strategy in the first half of 2023, completing the acquisition of an equity interest in Qatar’s North Field South project, agreeing to an offtake deal with the planned Saguaro LNG export facility in Mexico and securing regasification capacity at the Gate LNG Terminal in the Netherlands. At its analyst and investor meeting in April, the company said it sees robust LNG demand growth well into the middle of the century, led by Asian importers. It aims to expand its LNG supply portfolio from six million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) currently to over 12 mtpa by 202 ..read more

A rush of deal-making in the Permian basin in the last year-and-a-half has resulted in private operators cashing in and while the acquirers consolidated assets, it makes further acquisitions a challenge, Diamondback Energy, Inc. chief executive officer Travis Stice said at the company’s second quarter 2023 conference call. Diamondback acquired Lario Permian, LLC and FireBird Energy LLC late last year, which are now fully integrated into the firm’s operations, said Stice. He didn’t rule out further acquisitions going forward but added that the firm was being very selective with its deals. “Ther ..read more

A corporate culture focused on driving down costs while driving up well productivity is allowing Permian oil producer Diamondback Energy, Inc. to drill more wells faster while keeping a lid on capital expenditures, chief executive officer Travis Stice said at the company’s second quarter 2023 conference call. The improved cycle times resulted in Diamondback drilling 98 wells in the second quarter of 2023, a record for the company, and almost twice the 52 wells drilled in the year-ago quarter, as it integrated two large Permian acquisitions into its operations. Source: Evaluate Energy Company ..read more