Oil producers in West Texas, defying expectations they would fall victim to OPEC’s price war, are instead selling investors on the idea that they can still profit with prices below $35 a barrel. Drillers in the Permian Basin, the biggest US shale field, have raised at least $2 billion from share sales over the past eight weeks. And more issuances are on the way as producers try to avoid piling on additional debt.
Sales of cowboy boots have seen a decline in regions of the US where the economy is heavily impacted by the energy sector. One US company, which specialises in Western and work-related footwear, said its sales had seen a drop in the last quarter.
A private equity-backed US oil company led by former Statoil executives has bought 18,000 acres in Texas.
Carbo Ceramics has suspended its dividend payments in an effort to manage the decline in oil field activity.
Oil major Chevron has joined a number of businesses to opt out of the Texas open carry law - which means employees will no longer be able to carry firearms inside office buildings. The move was made apparent to employees in an email sent on the final day of last year. The decision covers handguns, rifles or shotguns.
The collapse in the oil price claimed its latest shale drilling victim when Swift Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States.
A worker at Marathon Petroleum Corp's Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, was burned by hydrofluoric acid on Saturday while working on an alkylation unit, which was shut as part of a planned three-month, multi-unit overhaul, a source familiar with plant operations said on Sunday.
Empyrean Energy has reported a fall in interim revenue and pretax profit but said its flagship Sugarloaf asset in Texas is rising in value despite the low oil price.
ConocoPhillips will supply the first cargo of U.S. shale oil to be exported since a 40-year ban on such shipments was lifted less than two weeks ago.
A Houston businessman who dubs himself “Mattress Mack” may have just saved himself $20million – after the oil price failed to peak past $85 by New Year’s Eve. Jim McIngvale, who owns Gallery Furniture in the Texas energy hub, told customers who spent more than $7,000 he would give them all their money back if the oil price rose past his marker by December 31st. The price of West Texas Intermediate has dropped as low as $36 this month with no signs of a sudden surge.
A fire at a Texas natural gas processing plant has been extinguished after burning for more than four days. An investigation is now underway into what caused the incident.
Energy & Exploration Partners Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection, following several other oil and gas drillers into bankruptcy. In its petition filed Monday, the company listed debt of $1 billion to $10 billion and assets of $500 million to $1 billion.
A huge tornado in the US has caused damage to an oil refinery in the state of Texas. Footage shows the twister as it caused havoc in the region. The Halliburton power-plant was severely damaged by the tornado which ripped through the plant and caused chemical and gas leaks. Watch the footage below.
A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit over a disputed cargo of Iraqi Kurdish crude oil which showed up last year off the shore of Texas. The incident prompted months of legal wrangling as Iraq sought to block the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from directly exporting oil. The case has now been dismissed by US District Court Judge Gray Miller because the vessel which carried the crude had sailed away after the US buyer had balked at taking delivery because of the legal fight.
Western Refining has made a bid to acquire Northern Tier Energy’s outstanding publicly-held units in deal worth $1.6billion.
GE Oil & Gas has signed a $610 million agreement with Cheniere Energy to provide spare parts and maintenance support on two LNG trains at Chenier's export facility in Corpus Christy, Texas.
Norwegian operator Statoil is reported to have told made staff in the US redundant after they refused to take voluntary redundancy. According to reports in Norwegian press, the staff are amongst around 100 members of staff who have been affected by job losses.
A natural gas pipeline explosion in the US has forced people to evacuate from their homes.
The oiliest county in Texas has seen its new natural gas production capacity more than double as drillers home in on their most profitable acreage. The peak output rate from new gas wells in Karnes County has surged 134 percent since January, estimates from Drillinginfo show. The only other county in Texas’s Eagle Ford shale patch where new gas capacity’s gaining is Live Oak, about 50 miles southwest of Karnes, the Austin-based energy data provider said. Gas producers are focusing on the most prolific parts of their plays as they grapple with the worst price collapse since 2008, and Karnes County has long been a sweet spot in Texas’s Eagle Ford formation. The 20,000-square-mile shale play supplies about one-sixth of the nation’s crude.
A Texan investor who helped the Bass family turn a $50mllion oil inheritance into a $5billion fortune has died. Richard Rainwater had been diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative brain disease,in 2009. The 71-year-old was known for looking for industries that were out of favour and seeking out partners he could back to form companies to bet on a recovery. The father-of-three passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday.
Sanchez Energy will sell off a number of assets in the US in a $345million deal. The deal will see Sanchez Production Partners acquire and operate certain pipeline, gathering and compression assets located in the Western part of its Catarina asset in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. The proceeds from the Western Catarina Divestiture will be used to further enhance Sanchez’s Energy’s liquidity position which is expected to enable the company to pursue growth opportunities through asset acquisitions.
ROVOP has won more than £2.5million worth of new contract wins in the last month across the oil, gas and offshore wind markets. The Aberdeen company said the contracts had been netted from both its office in the city as well as its Houston base. The work scopes for the projects, which extend into the third quarter of next year, include inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) on several major North Sea operators' platforms.
Sun Resources has said it has still to secure a new capital partner to fund future drilling and fracking operations across its Lower Woodbine oil and and gas leases in Texas.
America Resources Exploration has acquired a new oil field in Texas. The company said the Harris Leases in Callahan County total approximately 700 acres and come with six shallow wells drilled into the Jane’s Cross Plains Sand pay zone.
Texans cranking up their air conditioners to battle a heat wave are spurring the highest electricity prices since the so-called polar vortex brought frigid arctic air into the U.S. 18 months ago.