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These Asian Bankers Face $43 Billion Dead Deals After Oil Plunge

Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, Thailand’s richest man, who in February abandoned plans to buy control of Singapore builder United Engineers Ltd. after failing to reach agreement on price. It’s a tough time to be an investment banker in Southeast Asia. Singapore, the region’s biggest stock market, is having its driest spell in six years with no initial public offering bigger than $25 million in 2015. Mergers involving Southeast Asian companies have dropped 45 percent this year to the lowest level since 2009, bucking a 39 percent rise in the broader Asia Pacific. Adding to the woes, more than a fifth of all acquisitions, or $43 billion worth, announced in the past 12 months were scrapped, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The dearth of mergers, down to $20 billion, is taking a toll on bankers. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its investment-banking team in Singapore about 30 percent, while HSBC […]

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Some U.S. oil drillers see more output, but not by much

At least half a dozen U.S.-focused energy firms say they will pump more oil and gas this year than initially expected, adding to a sense that eager drillers are quickly pivoting from months of retrenchment toward renewed growth. A closer look at the figures, however, suggests upgrades to their full-year output forecasts reflect minor adjustments rather than an emerging trend. At most they add up to around 50,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data compiled by Reuters. On the low end, they might be shy of 20,000 bpd. They came from companies as large as Occidental Petroleum, which pumped nearly 200,000 bpd or over 2 percent of U.S. crude in the first quarter, and as small as Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc., which produced about a tenth as much. To be sure, brighter outlooks were not the norm. Bellwether shale firms including EOG Resources and Whiting Petroleum Corp […]

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Oil production declines deepen in June as productivity rises: EIA

NEW YORK Oil production declines from the largest U.S. shale plays will deepen for the second consecutive month in June even as rig productivity is accelerated, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Monday. The projected fall of some 71,000 barrels per day in June to 4.97 million bpd underscores how quickly production rates have declined after the worst price slump since the financial crisis and the start of the shale boom. Oil production from the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico is forecast to rise 7,000 bpd to 2.06 million bpd, according to the EIA’s drilling productivity report, the smallest increase since June. Production per rig in the region is set to jump by 26 bpd, the biggest level in at least eight years. Meanwhile, production from the Bakken formation of North Dakota is projected to fall 31,000 bpd to 1.27 million bpd, while production per […]

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U.S. approves Shell’s plan to drill for oil in Arctic

WASHINGTON Royal Dutch Shell’s quest to return to oil drilling in the U.S. Arctic for the first time since 2012 took a big step forward on Monday when the Obama administration approved the company’s exploration plan. The Department of Interior approved the plan in a move that had been expected. Now Shell must only get several permits from the federal government and the state of Alaska in order to begin drilling this summer. Shell has not drilled in the Arctic since its mishap-filled 2012 season, when the company was forced to evacuate the Kulluk drill rig, which eventually grounded. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner ; Editing by Bill Trott )

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Momentum building against Shell’s Alaska plans

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray adds his voice to a chorus of those expressing reservation about Shell’s plans to drill in the arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. UPI/Jim Bryant SEATTLE, May 11 (UPI) — After a setback in Seattle, organizers announced plans to hold weekend events to protest Shell’s drilling plans in the arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray last week expressed opposition to Shell’s lease for a port terminal for use for its drilling plans offshore Alaska. The western port city is ready to help the port authority attract clean companies, "rather than the polluting industries of yesterday," he said. Port officials in January approved plans to lease Terminal 5 to Foss Maritime, which would facilitate Shell’s regional operations. The mayor’s appeal for a new permit, Foss said, would cause "long-term harm" to the industry. The federal Department of Interior in April […]

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Rig data paints mixed U.S. oil picture

The number of rigs in service in top oil producing U.S. states are on the decline as low crude oil prices crimps spending. Photo by Calin Tatu/Shutterstock HOUSTON, May 11 (UPI) — State and industry data show the number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and natural gas in the top three U.S. producing states declined. North Dakota state data show 84 active drilling rigs in service as of Monday. That’s down from the 86 reported last week, 108 year-on-year and the lowest on record for the state in more than five years. Oil companies are spending less on exploration and production because crude oil markets have been depressed for nearly a year. That leaves energy companies with less capital to invest in exploration and production. North Dakota produced 1.17 million barrels of oil per day in February, the last full month for which data are available. […]

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Noble grabs Texas shale in $2.1 billion deal

Noble Energy makes $2.1 billion grab for Texas shale reserves. File Photo by photostock77/Shutterstock. HOUSTON, May 11 (UPI) — Noble Energy Inc. said Monday it was moving into two Texas shale basins with the $2.1 billion acquisition of rival Rosetta Resources. Noble moved to acquire all the common stocks of Rosetta Resources, which hold more than 100,000 net acres in two premier Texas shale basins . "I am excited to announce this strategic transaction which adds two exceptional and material areas to our global portfolio," Dave Stover, Noble’s top executive, said in a statement. "The Eagle Ford and the Permian are premier unconventional resource plays, two of the most economic in the United States, which will expand our resource base and development inventory and further diversify our portfolio." Texas is the No. 1 oil producer in the nation. The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s energy regulator, said preliminary […]

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U.S. Conditionally Approves Shell Arctic Drilling Plan

ENLARGE Royal Dutch Shell hopes to use this oil rig for exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea, off the West Coast of Alaska. Photo: DANIELLA BECCARIA/ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.S. government on Monday conditionally approved a plan by Royal Dutch Shell RDSA -0.97 % PLC to drill in the Arctic Ocean this summer, removing one of the biggest obstacles the energy company must overcome before it can explore for oil and natural gas in the Arctic’s frigid, isolated waters. The conditional approval from the Interior Department is contingent on Shell obtaining several additional federal permits, approvals Shell hopes government officials will make in the coming weeks. “We’d like to see them sooner rather than later,” Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said Monday. “We’re moving assets and people as if we’re going to achieve those permits. We have reason to believe we will.” Other obstacles, including ongoing legal battles brought by environmental […]

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Grabbing Paddles in Seattle to Ward Off an Oil Giant

Photo Activists trained on kayaks last week in Puget Sound in advance of a floating protest of Royal Dutch Shell in the Port of Seattle. Credit David Ryder for The New York Times SEATTLE — A dozen or so men and women, cinched into life jackets, paddles at the ready, were about to launch their kayaks into Elliott Bay early Thursday evening with Seattle’s glittering skyline as the backdrop. For some of the paddlers, it was a first-time experience, and with the water at 50 degrees and choppy, there were some obvious signs of trepidation. “O.K., what hazards are we watching for?” Elizabeth Chiaravalli, their instructor, shouted, and a smattering of answers immediately bounced back. “The waves!” “The dock!” “The pilings!” Then Cynthia Orr, a 67-year-old mental health counselor, spoke up. “Shell Oil!” she cried, standing by her boat. Her fellow kayakers — or kayaktivists, as they call themselves […]

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The Drilling Productivity Report

New-well oil production per rig barrels/day New-well gas production per rig thousand cubic feet/day Region May 2015 June 2015 change May 2015 June 2015 change Bakken 610 631 21 607 620 13 Eagle Ford 700 720 20 1,754 1,783 29 Haynesville 27 27 – 5,963 6,034 71 Marcellus 37 38 1 8,176 8,222 46 Niobrara 480 497 17 1,865 1,884 19 Permian 270 296 26 501 543 42 Utica 243 253 10 6,386 6,650 264 Rig-weighted average 390 404 14 2,176 2,307 131 The Drilling Productivity Report uses recent data on the total number of drilling rigs in operation along with estimates of drilling productivity and estimated changes in production from existing oil and natural gas wells to provide estimated changes in oil and natural gas production for seven key regions. EIA’s approach does not distinguish between oil-directed rigs and gas-directed rigs because once a well is completed it […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple