With gasoline demand on the increase as the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are being eased,...
With gasoline demand on the increase as the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are being eased, oil prices rose 5% in the U.S. on Friday, reaching more than $35 a barrel, the best month on record.
West Texas Intermediate crude, set at the Cushing hub was up $1.78 or 5.28%, settling Friday at $35.49 a barrel. However, it is still 46% less than the January high of $65.65 a barrel.
Brent futures crude oil traded on the ICE futures in Europe as Brent could only improve 4 cents, finishing the day at $35.33 a barrel.
Meanwhile, natural gas prices on the NYMEX rose only 2 cents in Friday’s trading, ending the day up 1.2% at $1.85 per MMBtu.
ConocoPhillips Completes $1.39 Billion Sale of Northern Australian Business
ConocoPhillips said May 27 it had completed the sale of its northern Australian business...
ConocoPhillips said May 27 it had completed the sale of its northern Australian business to partner Santos Ltd., which included a restructuring of the originally agreed upon upfront cash payment.
The pair had previously announced the deal in October 2019 with Santos agreeing to pay $1.39 billion in cash for ConocoPhillips’ subsidiaries that hold its Australia-West assets and operations. The sale includes interest in the Athena, Bayu-Undan, Bayu-Undan and Poseidon fields, Barossa project and Darwin LNG facility.
Based on the effective date of Jan. 1, customary closing adjustments, and the increased allocation to the final investment decision payment, ConocoPhillips has received net cash proceeds of about $765 million in the current quarter. Proceeds from the transaction are expected to be used by the Houston-based independent for general corporate purposes.
Blackstone’s EagleClaw Midstream Sues Caprock over Troubled Deal
Private-equity backed EagleClaw Midstream is suing the former owners of Caprock...
Private-equity backed EagleClaw Midstream is suing the former owners of Caprock Midstream, alleging they failed to disclose tens of millions of dollars of liabilities during acquisition talks.
EagleClaw in 2018 acquired natural gas pipeline operator Caprock Midstream Holdings from Energy Spectrum Capital and Caprock Midstream Management for $950 million. After the deal closed, EagleClaw discovered "numerous issues and claims for liabilities" with the pipeline assets, according to a lawsuit filed in a Texas court in Houston.
The largest amount was a $22 million bill presented after the close by Cimarex Energy Co. from an audit of a gas gathering, water handling and electrical services agreements, the suit claimed. EagleClaw is owned by private equity firms Blackstone Capital Partners and I Squared Capital.
Texas records steep oil production decline in March
Crude oil production in Texas dropped year on year in March, according to the Railroad Commission of...
Crude oil production in Texas dropped year on year in March, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas’ (RRC) latest figures.
The preliminary reported total volume of crude oil production in Texas was 107 million barrels during the month, which marked a significant drop from the reported total production volume of 128 million barrels registered during the same period last year.
Average daily production in March this year stood at 3.4 million barrels. This figure came in at 4.1 million barrels during the same period last year.
Crude oil production for March 2020 came from 171,775 oil wells. The top 10 crude oil-producing counties by preliminary output in Texas in March 2020 are as follows:
OPEC Delivers Three-quarters of Record Oil Cut in May
OPEC oil output hit the lowest in two decades in May as Saudi Arabia and...
OPEC oil output hit the lowest in two decades in May as Saudi Arabia and other members started to deliver a record supply cut, a Reuters survey found, although Nigeria and Iraq are laggards in making their share of the reduction.
On average, the 13-member OPEC pumped 24.77 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d) this month, the survey found, down 5.91 MMbbl/d from April’s revised figure.
OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed to cut supply by a record 9.7 MMbbl/d from May 1. OPEC’s share, to be made by 10 members from their October 2018 output in most cases, is 6.084 MMbbl/d.
So far in May, they delivered 4.48 MMbbl/d of the pledged reduction, equal to 74% compliance, the survey found.
