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EOG Reduces 2015 Capex 40 Percent

EOG Resources Bakken Acreage Map 2014 Recap EOG announced a strong fourth quarter for 2014 and revealed a disciplined 2015 spending plan that leverages their position to get them through the current difficult market. The company gives much of the credit for its success to the outstanding performance from its interests in the Bakken formation in North Dakota. EOG reported its Q4 net income at $445 million, which stands in sharp contrast to many companies who saw losses as crude prices plummeted through the fall. Overall, 2014 brought a net income of $2,915 million for the company, compared to $2,197 million for 2013. Related:  Energy Giants Announce Layoffs 2015 Capital Plan As EOG looks to the new year, they expect their capital expenditures to range from $4.9 to $5.1 billion. This number includes projects for production facilities and midstream expenditures and will primarily be directed to EOG’s highest rate-of-return […]

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Archer Hit By US Shale Rig Squeeze, Targets At Least 10% Cost Cuts

OSLO, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Oil services firm Archer expects to cut its costs by at least 10 percent through an 11 percent headcount reduction, as it adapts to a weaker market in the North Sea and the U.S., the firm said on Monday. Archer, which offers drilling and well intervention services, is especially hit by the downturn in the U.S. onshore market where the shale rig count has fallen by more than 500, or 30 percent, since the end of November. Archer expects this decline to continue through the first quarter and into the second quarter, it said on a conference call with investors. When asked if the firm’s North American revenues would drop at the same pace as the rig count, Chief Executive David King said that was a fair prediction, which would be "not far off". The onshore shale rig count dropped dramatically after OPEC kept […]

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U.S. shale oil’s crash diet likely to bring forward output dip

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shale oil producers are throttling back so quickly on drilling that U.S. crude output could fall sooner than expected, within months, executives say as they slash costs to cope with tumbling crude prices and compete with Persian Gulf rivals. About a dozen chief executives who talked to Reuters or who spoke publicly, acknowledged they were taken aback by the scale and speed of the cutbacks, noting how this oil price downturn was different from several previous episodes in their careers. For one, companies are cutting costs deeper and faster than before as Wall Street investors increasingly place a premium on capital discipline rather than just production growth. Some also say the nature of shale makes it easier for companies to defer work and wait for prices to recover. The wells that drove the U.S. energy boom of the last decade rapidly deplete, so overall output will […]

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Oil Drillers Idle Fewest Rigs in 7 Weeks as Retreat Slows

(Bloomberg) — U.S. oil explorers idled the fewest rigs in seven weeks, dragging oil prices to an intraday low on speculation that crude production won’t fall fast enough to balance the market. Rigs targeting oil in the U.S. dropped by 37 to 1,019 after averaging an 87-rig loss in the previous three weeks, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Friday. Since Dec. 5, 556 have been taken offline in an unprecedented retreat, bringing the count to the lowest level since July 2011. The unprecedented retrenchment in U.S. oil drilling underscores how deeply the global collapse in crude prices has wounded the world’s energy producers, eliminating more than 100,000 jobs internationally and shrinking capital spending this year by at least $86.4 billion. “The rig drop today was half the drop from last week, so the market might be mildly bearish on it,” James Williams, president of energy consulting company […]

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U.S. Oil Rigs Tumble Again, in Line With Twitter Estimates

A derrick hand in Knox County, Ohio. U.S. oil and gas rigs continued to fall this week despite still-rising levels of production. Drillers idled 48 rigs (37 of which were oil rigs), dropping the number to 1,310 and marking the 11th consecutive decline, Baker Hughes reported on Friday. The total U.S. rig count is down 32 percent since October, an unprecedented retreat. The median forecast from a Bloomberg survey of ten  # RigCountGuesses  on Twitter was for a decline of 52.  Active oil and gas rigs for the last five years. Source: Baker Hughes The Baker Hughes rig counts is a newly popular and controversial signal for U.S. oil watchers. Rigs are used to explore for new deposits and to drill new wells. The theory goes that when oil rigs decline, fewer wells are drilled, less new oil is discovered, and oil production slows. That would be good news for investors hoping for a rise in crude prices after […]

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BHI’s rig count reaches 5-year low; forecast projects more losses

HOUSTON, Feb. 20 02/20/2015 The US drilling rig count fell 48 units—markedly fewer compared with declines in recent weeks—to settle at 1,310 rigs working during the week ended Feb. 20, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. That total is the lowest since Jan. 22, 2010, and 461 fewer units compared with this week a year ago. The count has now fallen 12 consecutive weeks, losing 610 units during that time ( OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014 ). In analysis releases this week, Wood Mackenzie says it expects a continued decline in rigs through the first half of the year, leveling off at 1,000 units by August. The pace of land rigs being idled will continue to accelerate, with the first two weeks in February seeing another 200 rigs coming off contract. “The oil price collapse is hitting onshore activity and rig operators, drilling rigs are currently being stacked at an alarming […]

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Cabot Oil Slashes Capital Budget, Production Guidance For 2015

ENLARGE Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. slashed its capital budget and pared back its production plans for 2015. Illustration: Bloomberg News/Landov Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. on Friday slashed its capital budget and pared back its production plans for 2015, as the energy company said it swung to a fourth-quarter loss amid plummeting energy prices. Cabot had posted stronger earnings in recent years as it benefited from the energy boom and last year announced plans to spend $210 million to boost acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale, a rock formation in south Texas. But oil prices have plunged since June as an oversupply from U.S. energy firms has flooded the global market. Oil prices fluctuated Friday and were headed for their first weekly loss in a month after data showed U.S. oil supplies were at an 80-year high. Cabot said it has cut its 2015 capital budget to $900 […]

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Shale Producers Postpone Oil Well Completions

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/137322/Kemp_Shale_Producers_Postpone_Oil_Well_Completions US shale producers are postponing well completions to conserve cash and defer production until prices recover, says John Kemp. John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – EOG Resources became the latest major shale producer to state that it would "delay a significant number of completions" when it announced fourth-quarter results. The company plans to end 2015 with 285 wells awaiting completion services, up from 200 at the end of 2014, it told investors during an earnings call on Thursday. Continental Resources has also announced plans to go slow on well completions in response to the slump in oil prices. Apache and Anadarko Petroleum are among other shale producers to announce a deliberate strategy of delaying completions. U.S. shale producers are postponing well completions to conserve cash and defer production until prices recover. There are a large […]

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Marathon Oil going after costs, has saved $225 million so far

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Marathon Oil Corp said on Thursday it has so far captured $225 million in savings, citing streamlined shale drilling and completion processes and lower prices from oilfield service providers. While many oil and gas companies forecast cost savings, Marathon said it is already seeing savings as it squeezes well costs in fields in south Texas and elsewhere and renegotiates service contracts in response to the steep drop in crude oil prices that have upended the sector. "With margins compressed by lower commodity prices it’s incumbent upon us to be aggressive in pushing those service costs and tangible costs down," Lance Robertson, vice president for North American Operations told investors on a conference call. Marathon said its has reduced its per well cost by $1.3 million to an average of $6.3 million through efficiency and service costs reductions. The Houston company is also working to pare general […]

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North Dakota oil boom deflating

North Dakota oil production hasn’t yet declined due to lower rig count. Photo by David Gaylor/Shutterstock WILLISTON, N.D., Feb. 19 (UPI) — Low oil prices haven’t yet dimmed confidence in North Dakota, though there may be concerns lingering over the mid-term horizon, those on the ground said. Oil prices have remained above what some consider the floor price for the recent downturn, trading in recent sessions above the $50 per barrel mark for West Texas Intermediate crude oil. That’s more than 18 percent above late January lows, but still 50 percent less than June prices, forcing many in the industry to lay off staff and cut spending on exploration and production. Oil prices are down in part because of a weakened global economy and a market swing to the supply side. Oil produced from U.S. shale, like the Bakken formation in North Dakota, is behind some of the momentum. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple