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US Shale Production Just Hit A New All Time High

July 17, 2017

US Shale Production Just Hit A New All Time High

One month ago, we reported that based on recent data, June oil output from shale producers would post the first double-digit production growth since July of 2015, when oil prices tumbled and a substantial portion of US production was briefly taken offline. While the final data has yet to be tabulated, it is safe to say that this is now the case.

Indicatively, while over the past year total U.S. production was up roughly 525kb/d, virtually all of it, or 98.5%, was the result of horizontal rig production in the Permian Basin, where output rose by just over half a million barrels per day.

The Permian basin has been leading the increase in horizontal oil rig count (+184%)

Also of note is that while US rig shows not signs of slowing yet, in its latest Weekly Oil Rig Monitor, Goldman predicted that $45/bbl is the price below which shale output would finally slow, although that price may also prove a substantial hurdle for many gulf budgets, whose all in cost of production – including mandatory and discretionary government outlays – is roughly the same if not higher.

Rig count (lhs), WTI spot prices (rhs, $/bbl, 3-mo lag)

But what is more notable, is that according to the June EIA Drilling Prodctivity Report forecast, in July total shale (note: not total) basin output would rise by 127kb/d from May’s 5.348mmb/d, and hit 5.475 mmb/d, surpassing the previous record of 5.46 mmb/d reached in March 2015. Today the EIA released its latest Drilling Productivity Report, and while the number is not official just yet, it is safe to say that as of July, the total US shale basin is producing a record amount of crude oil, which the EIA pegged at 5.472mmb/d, up almost exactly as predicted, and is expected to rise by a further 113kb/d in August to a new all time high of 5.585mmb/d.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US Oil Rig Count Rises For 23rd Straight Week But High Costs Drive Investors Out Of The Permian

June 23, 2017

US Oil Rig Count Rises For 23rd Straight Week But High Costs Drive Investors Out Of The Permian

The number of oil rigs in America has now risen for 23 straight weeks (and 50 of the last 52 weeks), up 11 to 758 in the last week – the highest since April 2015. “It’s becoming bearish mania,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago. “If we keep going down, we’re not going to be adding rigs in a few months, we’re not going to be adding production”

And we suspect, given the lagged reaction to prices, that inflection point in rig counts is close…

And the last chance for the week for the bulls just left…

US crude production (in the Lower 48) has been on a tear (with one brief interruption) tracking the lagged rise in rig counts almost perfectly…

And the rising rig count has been driven mainly by The Permian…

But as Oil & Gas 360 notes, high acreage costs beginning to affect economics in the Delaware, driving investors away from The Permian.

The Permian has enjoyed a rush of capital since oil prices began to recover from a low of $26.21 in February of last year.

The play is home to some of the best economics in the country, making it a prime target for E&P companies looking to maximize profit in a lower price environment. But the surge in land costs is leaving little room for new investors to profit.

The Delaware basin, the Permian’s hottest zone, is beginning to become a victim of its own success. EnerCom Analytics’ well economic models indicate that the internal rates of return (IRRs) in the Delaware are now lower than those seen in the Midland due to the high cost of land.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Shale Hotspot Draws In Another Big Oil Player

April 10, 2017

Shale Hotspot Draws In Another Big Oil Player

Oil rig

The oil price crash that destroyed a lot of smaller oil producers has not spared the finances of even the oldest and largest oil companies. Trying to keep the precious dividends intact and growing, Big Oil is focusing on cost control and cash preservation, and has effectively deferred investments in new ultra-expensive drilling ventures.

One of the biggest companies, U.S. Chevron, is now planning to capitalize on its vast acreage holdings in the Permian. Investments in new mega projects, at least over the next few years, are not currently on the table, chief executive John Watson told Reutersin an interview published this week.

Chevron is now betting big on the Permian; the star shale play straddling West Texas and New Mexico that has seen most of the resurgence since oil prices started steadily recovering in the fourth quarter last year.

Unlike some other (and smaller) producers who have just recently rushed to secure holdings in the shale play, Chevron is not a newcomer to the Permian – the group and its legacy companies have held acreage in the area since the early 1920s.

Now the new oil order is causing the company to shift strategies away from mega drilling projects to secure steady returns in more conservative projects in order to protect dividends and keep them growing.

Chevron reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with a loss of $0.31 per share for the fourth quarter of 2015, in line with analyst expectations that it would return to profit, but still missing the EPS estimates by a wide margin. Full-year 2016 results showed a loss of $497 million compared with earnings of $4.6 billion in 2015, which was the first annual loss Chevron has booked since 1980.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Why We Can Expect Cripplingly Higher Oil Prices In The Near Future

June 21, 2016

Why We Can Expect Cripplingly Higher Oil Prices In The Near Future

Oil Rig

The break-even price for Permian basin tight oil plays is about $61 per barrel (Table 1). That puts Permian plays among the lowest cost significant supply sources in the world. Although that is good news for U.S. tight oil plays, there is a dark side to the story.

Just because tight oil is low-cost compared to other expensive sources of oil doesn’t mean that it is cheap. Nor is it commercial at current oil prices.

The disturbing truth is that the real cost of oil production has doubled since the 1990s. That is very bad news for the global economy. Those who believe that technology is always the answer need to think about that.

Through that lens, Permian basin tight oil plays are the best of a bad, expensive lot.

Table 1. Weighted average break-even price for top operators in Permian basin tight oil plays. Source: Drilling Info, company documents and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc.

Not Shale Plays and Not New

The tight oil plays in the Permian basin are not shale plays. Spraberry and Bone Spring reservoirs are mostly sandstones and Wolfcamp reservoirs are mostly limestones.

Nor are they new plays. All have produced oil and gas for decades from vertically drilled wells. Reservoirs are commonly laterally discontinuous and, therefore, had poor well performance. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have largely addressed those issues at drilling and completion costs of $6-7 million per well.

Permian Basin Overview

The Permian basin is among the most mature producing areas in the world. It has produced more than 31.5 billion barrels of oil and 112 trillion cubic feet of gas since 1921. Current production is approximately 1.9 million barrels of oil (mmbo) and 6.6 billion cubic feet of gas (bcfg) per day.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Just About Every Part of the Permian Basin is Unprofitable at $30 Per Barrel

December 21, 2015

Just About Every Part of the Permian Basin is Unprofitable at $30 Per Barrel

Sorry about that. I know that many believe that U.S. shale and tight oil plays are commercial even at current low oil prices but data on the Permian basin and Bakken plays simply does not support that belief.

To make matters worse, Pioneer and EOG have made outrageous claims about Permian basin reserves in their 3rd quarter 2015 earnings reports that no sensible person should believe. Statements like these simply add to the mistaken idea that tight oil plays get a pass on the laws of physics and economics and that somehow the U.S. is going to beat Saudi Arabia as the low-cost “swing producer” of the world. I wish that were true but trust me–based on data, that’s not going to happen.

The Permian basin is one of the oldest producing areas in the United States. It has been thoroughly drilled and is in a hyper-mature phase of development. The Spraberry, Wolfcamp and Bone Springs plays that Pioneer and EOG are pursuing (Figure 1) are really secondary recovery projects in which horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have replaced water and CO2 injection methods used in the past. Few new reserves should be expected. Most of the claims that these companies make are really about higher recovery efficiency of existing reserves.

Related: The Golden Age Of Coal In China Is Over

None of these plays are remotely commercial at present oil prices. In the most-likely per-well reserve case, these plays require break-even oil prices in the range of at least $50-$75 per barrel, and current wellhead prices in the basin are less than $30 per barrel.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

OPEC Production Cut May Not Be Needed After All

February 19, 2015

OPEC Production Cut May Not Be Needed After All

U.S. tight oil production may fall 600,000 barrels per day by June 2015 based on reasonable projections of current rig counts.

I compared the decrease in rig counts that began in late 2014 to the rig count decrease in 2008 and 2009 following the Financial Crisis. I projected current total rig counts according to three scenarios out to June 5, 2015 shown in the chart below. I then applied those decline rates to rig counts and production in the 4 major tight oil plays: the Bakken, D-J Niobrara, Eagle Ford and Permian basin.

RigDecrease0809AndNow

Comparison of rig count decrease in 2008-2009 and 2014-2015. Source: Baker Hughes

In 2008-2009, the U.S. rig count dropped from 2,031 to 876 over a period of 283 days. As of February 13, 2015, the rig count has fallen from 1,931 to 1,358 over a period of 151 days. The current rate of decrease is greater than in 2008-2009. I used the 2008-2009 rig count trend as a general guide for rate of change and duration recognizing that there are differences between the two events. Other than the rate of decrease, the most notable difference is that in 2008-2009, there was more vertical drilling than in 2014-2015 and that rig efficiency was lower in 2008-2009 as a result.

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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