North America
Rig Counts , Unconventional , Shale Plays
Hart Energy’s Unconventional Activity Tracker (Week of March 30, 2020)
We’ve entered the Tom Petty zone of rig count decline. Talk to drilling contractors and they report business is Free Falling, Free Falling. Tight formation rig count dropped 39 this past week, including 22 in the Permian, five in the Eagle Ford and six in Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin.
Highlights
Best Of This Week’s Drilling Activity Highlights (March 27, 2020)
A high-volume Wolfcamp producer by EOG in Loving County, Texas, and results from a Utica Shale well test in Ohio top this week’s drilling activity highlights from around the world.
People , Exploration & Production
Murphy Oil CEO Takes Medical Leave over Coronavirus Concerns
In the interim, David Looney, Murphy Oil’s executive vice president and CFO, will temporarily assume RogerJenkin’s responsibilities as president and CEO.
Acquisitions & Divestitures , Trends
Energy A&D Transactions from the Week of March 25, 2020
Editor’s note: there were no updates from the previous week’s A&D transactions chart that ran March 18.
Earnings , Pressure Pumping
U.S. Silica to Idle Northern White Frac Sand Mine
U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. on March 24 revealed annualized SG&A cost reductions of approximately $20 million in response to the recent drop in oil prices and the expected decline in drilling and completion activity in North American shale over the coming quarters.
Rig Counts , Unconventional , Shale Plays
Hart Energy’s Unconventional Activity Tracker (Week of March 23, 2020)
The hurricane of in-field activity cutbacks is moving toward landfall. Hart Energy’s Unconventional Activity Tracker fell 11 units, or 2%, this past week led by a nine-unit decline in the Permian Basin. Rig count declines were recorded in most of the major plays although the Marcellus and Utica held steady at zero change versus last week. That story was also true for the liquids-rich plays, and the traditional dry gas plays.
Acquisitions & Divestitures , Trends
Energy A&D Transactions From The Week Of March 18, 2020
Here’s a snapshot of energy deals from the past week including the $94 million acquisition of NexTier’s well services business by Basic Energy.
Public Capital , Exploration & Production , Shale Plays
Exxon Mobil, Hess, Concho, Callon, Kosmos Join US Producers Tightening Capex
On average, Reuters estimates North America oil and gas producers have cut their 2020 budgets by about 30% since the fall in oil prices.
Rig Counts , Unconventional , Shale Plays
Hart Energy’s Unconventional Activity Tracker (Week of March 16, 2020)
This week’s rig count produced a false positive, essentially reporting the activity level in effect shortly before oil markets cratered from the OPEC + dissolution and the ensuing draconian retrenchment in E&P 2020 capex.
Unconventional , Shale Plays
North American Unconventional Well Completions Chart (Fourth-quarter 2019)
Hart Energy’s Completions Chart looks at well completions in major North American unconventional plays by operator. The number of wells reported is sorted by play and by operator, and there is a tab that summarizes all plays by operators.