Ever since oil prices plunged in late 2014, operators have had to refocus portfolios and reconsider operational approaches. The portfolio reset has led to growing concentration in the Permian as ADI wrote about recently. Another big shift is occurring in operational approaches as operators tweak “factory drilling” with a data-driven mindset that relies on various […]
Can Permian Position the U.S. as the New Swing Producer?
Flying into Midland isn’t quite the same as flying into Bay Area so drawing a parallel between Silicon Valley and the Permian is not easy. Even so, the parallels start emerging after one spends some time visiting operators and oilfield service players as I recently did in the Permian. A wider range of operators, including those with […]
Natural Gas Liquids: Returning to Good Times?
ADI Analytics hosted its first North America Natural Gas and NGL forum in Houston late February. The forum was well-attended with representatives from a wide range of companies including integrated oil and gas majors, refiners, E&P independents, industrial gas suppliers, equipment providers, technology licensors, investors, and media outlets. The forum featured several presentations by ADI […]
Lighting Well Pads with Advances in Power Generation
Unconventional oil and gas production has taken operators into areas that lack accessibility to electricity from the grid. While most operators believe that they will be connected to the grid within two years of drilling, that is still two years where operators have to produce their own electricity. An average oil and gas well typically […]
Benchmarking costs in unconventional oil and gas
ADI Analytics is currently working on a study focused on identifying opportunities to further reduce unconventional costs. Specifically, we are focused on identifying the role of new technology, innovation, and best practices. This work will build on ADI Analytics’ extensive prior experience in evaluating and benchmarking upstream drilling and completion costs for both conventional and unconventional […]
Petronas Starts-Up While Other FLNG Projects Struggle
Earlier this year, Petronas launched the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel, PFLNG 1. The vessel is capable of producing 1.2 mtpa of LNG and is located offshore in the Kanowit field ~115 miles southwest of Malaysia. PFLNG 1 marks the first of what could be many FLNG projects worldwide. However, falling oil […]
What Does the Failure of the HAL BHI Merger Mean for M&A in Oilfield Services?
Last week, it was announced that Halliburton would not be following through with its acquisition of Baker Hughes. Meanwhile, in early April, Schlumberger’s acquisition of Cameron was completed. Understanding why the Halliburton Baker Hughes deal fell through while the Schlumberger Cameron deal moved forward offers insight into the outlook for M&A in oilfield services. Fundamentally different […]
Growth or dividends: Investing in oil
The Wall Street Journal today presented an interesting framework to think about investing in oil. The article takes a rather conservative perspective and suggests that investors should look at oil not for growth but for dividends. So they consider the super majors a better bet than the independents. While several points in the article are […]
India’s policy on oil and gas exploration and production
I have just published an op-ed article on India’s oil and gas exploration and production policy. It appeared in Business Line, India’s leading business newspaper. The main argument is: That India does not fit ‘Big Oil’s’ strategy need not be disappointing. As the country’s economy grows, ‘Big Oil’ will have to find new business models […]
Irrational exuberance or legit joy?
The New York Times has published a piece commenting on the flood of recent oil field discoveries, far exceeding the pace in this decade. Much as this is cause for joy, new oil finds are deeper, costlier, and more difficult to process. Finally, we ought to have a few more data points before calling a […]
