Make no mistake about it, Canadian gas producers are in an intense market share battle with their American counterparts.
October 27, 2016, 6 AM MDT
The landscape of publicly-traded exploration and production (“E&P”) companies in the Canadian oil and natural gas sector has changed. With the commodity price bust over the last couple of years, many E&P companies with unmanageable debt levels, assets that have higher operating costs and/or lower production levels have disappeared in droves.
October 26, 2016, 8:30 AM MDT
Analysis in CanOils' latest monthly M&A review suggests that the pressure on Canada’s E&P sector to raise external financing to meet capital commitments would appear to be alleviating somewhat, based upon much lower M&A activity levels in September.
October 20, 2016, 8:11 AM MDT
The amount of cash raised by 68 U.S. oil and gas companies via a net issuance in new shares soared to a three-year high of US$19.4 billion in Q2 2016, according to Evaluate Energy’s new study focused on U.S. oil and gas company cash flow, which can be downloaded here.
October 18, 2016, 8:18 AM MDT
Dramatic shifts have taken place in the way U.S. oil and gas operators view cash flow, capital expenditures (cap-ex) and market risk — with companies closer today to being able to fund cap-ex plans with only their operating cash flow than at any point since the price downturn began.
October 5, 2016, 8:04 AM MDT
In the first half of 2016 approximately $15 billion in merger and acquisition (“M&A”) activity took place in the Canadian oil and natural gas industry. Breaking this down further, $8.9 billion consisted of corporate transactions, overwhelmed by Suncor Energy Inc.’s acquisition of Canadian Oil Sands Limited for $8.3 billion, while there was $5.7 billion in asset sales completed.
September 28, 2016, 7:50 AM MDT
Iraq’s crude oil production has made impressive gains to record high levels in recent years despite ongoing political dysfunction and the Islamic State controlling as much as a third of the country’s territory since the middle of 2014. But future production gains are in doubt for a combination of political and economic reasons, and Iraq could in fact see a decline in its crude oil production if ethnic and intra-ethnic rivalries were to lead to a multi-sided civil war.
September 7, 2016, 6 AM MDT
It may come as a surprise — especially considering the recent volatility in the price of oil — that market fundamentals have improved in the last three months. For the first time in two years, the world market is now nearly balanced, meaning that oil consumption is almost equal to production.
August 31, 2016, 8:04 AM MDT
Nigeria has long suffered from ethnic-related strife. Much of it has been in the Niger Delta region in the southeast of the country, home to most of its oil and gas resources. The latest bout of strife in the Delta, much like earlier ones, has caused a substantial drop in the country’s crude oil production, which is in gradual decline anyways.
August 16, 2016, 7:29 AM MDT
A total of $6.8 billion of capital was raised by the Canadian oil and natural gas industry in the first six months of 2016, down 53 per cent from the $14.5 billion recorded over the same time period in 2015.
July 27, 2016, 8:22 AM MDT
Venezuela is in political and economic crisis. President Nicolas Maduro and his fellow Chavistas continue to cling to power despite the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) securing a massive two-thirds supermajority in last December’s parliamentary elections. Economically, the country is suffering riots and lootings due to shortages of food, medicine, other basic goods and electric power.
July 19, 2016, 6 AM MDT
Total global spend on upstream M&A deals rose an encouraging 38 per cent in the second quarter, driven by improved oil prices and market confidence, according to Evaluate Energy’s review of global upstream oil and gas M&A activity in Q2 2016, which can be downloaded now.
July 7, 2016, 4:25 AM MDT
To paraphrase the great American author and humorist Mark Twain, reports of the House of Saud’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Saudi Arabia has survived several bouts of insecurity in the past. These include the occupation of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, being tarred ‘liberal apostates’ by the Sahwa in the 1990s, and the al-Qaeda threat in the early 2000s.
July 6, 2016, 8:24 AM MDT
If I had to lay odds on which E&P powerhouse is going to secure the sector’s next major corporate acquisition I’d start by examining their ability to absorb substantial levels of debt while still keeping debt-to-capital ratios in balance.
July 5, 2016, 10:28 AM MDT
In advance of the well-publicized decision of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench regarding the matter of the disposition of the assets of insolvent RedWater Energy Corp. (“RedWater”), the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”) fired a shot across the bow of oil and natural gas producers, as well as the officers and directors of such entities, by issuing Bulletin 2016-10 on April 8, 2016. The stated purpose of Bulletin 2016-10 was “to remind licensees and their directors and officers of their statutory responsibilities when ceasing operations because of insolvency or for any other reason.”
June 29, 2016, 8:51 AM MDT
It is widely believed among oil analysts and market commentators that the world oil market is experiencing a ‘new normal.’ As a rule, prices for international benchmark crudes such as North Sea Brent Blend and North American West Texas Intermediate are not expected to rise above $70 to $80 per barrel.
June 28, 2016, 6 AM MDT
Oil and gas producers are in the midst of the worst downturn in a generation. While producers are accustomed to the cyclical nature of the industry, amendments the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) made to the Licensee Liability Rating Program (LLR) in 2013 (the "2013 Amendments") have created additional challenges in this downturn for producers with limited liquidity. On June 20, 2016 the AER released Bulletin 2016-16 outlining a new policy with regards to how the AER will administer the LLR program which will have a major impact on the financial viability and strategic options of many producers.
June 23, 2016, 7:56 AM MDT
Data from CanOils’ latest M&A report shows that the total value of announced M&A deals in the Canadian E&P sector totalled C$880 million in May 2016. The report is available for download now.
June 15, 2016, 7:49 AM MDT
The proposed energy policies of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominees for the 2016 U.S. presidential race, are highly divergent and if adopted in their current forms would have significantly different impacts on the western Canadian oil and gas industry.
June 14, 2016, 8:38 AM MDT
In 2015, the total amount of capital raised in the Canadian oil and natural gas industry was $17.0 billion, with equity financings accounting for $10.5 billion, or 61% of the total. Debt financings accounted for the remaining $6.6 billion. Early in 2015, much of the equity raised was used to reduce debt with few companies tapping the equity markets in conjunction with an announced acquisition. As the year progressed the equity markets were supportive but selective in underwriting mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) activity; this trend continued into 2016.
May 25, 2016, 7:17 AM MDT
After a year of severe cutbacks western Canadian oil and gas supply costs are coming down, making production more competitive on a global basis, according to the just released CanOils Canadian Energy Producers Benchmarking Study.
May 13, 2016, 7:56 AM MDT
While the size of the devastating wildfires in Fort McMurray is not yet fully understood, we do know that the blaze will leave a lasting scar on the community and province for many years to come.
May 12, 2016, 7:17 AM MDT
In April 2016, the total monthly value of M&A deals in the Canadian E&P sector was over C$1 billion for the first time in 2016, according to analysis in CanOils’ latest monthly M&A report.
May 10, 2016, 8:47 AM MDT
Like everyone else in the industry, Trican Well Service Ltd. has strived to cut costs throughout the current downturn, but it has had the added burden of reducing a heavy debt — much of it incurred because of a regrettable investment during better times.
May 6, 2016, 8:39 AM MDT
A detailed analysis of Canadian drilling activity in the first quarter of 2016 is now available.
May 2, 2016, 9:01 AM MDT