APA Corporation Acquiring Callon Petroleum for $4.5B
APA Corporation and Callon Petroleum Company...
APA Corporation and Callon Petroleum Company have entered into a definitive agreement under which APA will acquire Callon in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $4.5 billion, inclusive of Callon’s net debt. Under the terms of the transaction, each share of Callon common stock will be exchanged for a fixed ratio of 1.0425 shares of APA common stock. The transaction is expected to be accretive to all key financial metrics and add to APA’s inventory of high-quality, short-cycle opportunities. Callon’s assets provide additional scale to APA’s operations across the Permian Basin, most notably in the Delaware Basin, where Callon has nearly 120,000 acres. On a pro forma basis, total company production exceeds 500,000 BOE per day and enterprise value increases to more than $21 billion.
Nearly 100 people were killed in bombings near the Iranian military leader’s grave. At least 95 people were killed and two explosions injured 211 during a ceremony honoring Qassem Soleimani, a leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who was killed by a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020. Iranian officials described the blasts as terrorist attacks, but no group immediately claimed responsibility for them. The bombings came as tensions were already running high in the region because of the Israel–Hamas war.
The US and its allies warned Houthi militants to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea or face military action.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war yesterday in the biggest prisoner swap since Russia invaded in February 2022. Meanwhile, the EU hit Russia’s biggest diamond producer with sanctions.
Several state capitols were evacuated or had brief lockdowns yesterday after receiving mass-emailed bomb threats.
Xerox plans to lay off 15% of its workforce as part of a broader reorganization.
Starbucks will now let customers use their own cups for drive-through and app orders as the coffee chain looks to cut back on waste.
BEIJING: China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC)...
BEIJING: China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has further expanded its presence in Brazil’s deepwater pre-salt oilfields following the start of production of its Mero2 project on Tuesday, say industry experts.
Mero2 is one of the four production units of Mero, the country’s third-largest pre-salt oilfield in the Santos Basin off southeastern Brazil. It is located at a water depth of between 1,800m and 2,100m, CNOOC said.
Sixteen development wells are to be commissioned, including eight production wells and eight injectors. The production capacity of the project is 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, the state-owned company said.
Mero1 has consistently maintained good production since it came into operation in May, with a daily output of 25,500 tonnes, one of the most productive offshore oil fields in Brazil, said CNOOC Petroleum Brazil Ltd president Huang Yehua, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC.
U.S. stocks extended a new year’s downturn Wednesday as investors continued to take...
U.S. stocks extended a new year’s downturn Wednesday as investors continued to take profits following last year's rally and minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting last month that suggested the central bank may not lower interest rates as much as the market expects. Technology remained under pressure, sending the Nasdaq Composite® (COMP) to its fourth-straight daily drop and a three-week low.
Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) December 12 – 13 meeting, released earlier Wednesday afternoon, echoed the Fed's inflation-fighting messaging oft heard over the past year. While the Fed's benchmark short-term rate is "likely at or near its peak" for the recent tightening cycle, the actual path of rates "will depend on how the economy evolves," according to the minutes.
Almost all FOMC members indicated that based on an improved inflation outlook "a lower target range for the federal funds rate would be appropriate by the end of 2024," the minutes said. However, FOMC members noted an "unusually elevated" degree of uncertainty and that it was possible "the economy could evolve in a manner that would make further increases in the target range appropriate."
Here's where the major benchmarks ended:
The S&P 500® index (SPX) was down 38.02 points (0.8%) at 4,704.81; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® (DJI) was down 284.85 points (0.8%) at 37,430.19; theNasdaq Composite was down 173.73 points (1.2%) at 14,592.21.
The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) was down about 3 basis points at 3.91%.
The Cboe® Volatility Index (VIX) was up 0.84 at 14.04.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for February delivery rose $2.32 to $72.70 per barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for March delivery rose $2.36 to $78.25 per barrel.
Wholesale gasoline for February delivery rose 7 cents to $2.16 a gallon. February heating oilrose 7 cents to $2.60 a gallon. February natural gasrose 10 cents to $2.67per 1,000 cubic feet.