• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 2 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 5 hours How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 7 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 4 days Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 5 days The European Union is exceptional in its political divide. Examples are apparent in Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belarus, Ireland, etc.
  • 20 hours Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
  • 4 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)
Venezuela Braces for the Return of U.S. Sanctions

Venezuela Braces for the Return of U.S. Sanctions

Venezuela is preparing for the…

Bullish Sentiment Finally Breaks Out in Oil Markets

Bullish Sentiment Finally Breaks Out in Oil Markets

Bullish sentiment is finally seeping…

James Stafford

James Stafford

James Stafford is the Editor of Oilprice.com

More Info

Premium Content

This Week in Energy: Welcome to the US Shale Reshuffle

This week we are watching with great interest what will be a reshuffling of US shale assets that paints an interesting picture of the emerging playing field. Anglo-Dutch supergiant Shell is planning to sell off its entire 106,000-acre holding in the Eagle Ford Shale and another 600,000 acres in the Mississippian Lime play in Kansas.

The knee-jerk reaction to this is to ask why would this supergiant sell off these prime producing assets—especially the liquids-rich assets?

On the surface, Shell is making up for a $2.1 billion after-tax impairment charge that recently came out in its second-quarter earnings statement. When it comes to US shale, Shell simply isn’t meeting its size and profitability targets, and the after-tax impairment charge is primarily related to these North American assets.

Shell isn’t the only major player getting rid of US shale assets—but it is the only one so far to divest of the more profitable liquids-rich acreage. Most notably, BG Group and BHP Billiton (BHP) have reduced their North American shale holdings, but those divestitures have been gas-heavy assets.

For Shell, this seems to be the right move: It will see better returns in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Malaysia, for instance. At the same time, its Eagle Ford liquids-rich assets are very attractive to prospective buyers and the proceeds will boost development in the Gulf of Mexico and Malaysia.

What is most interesting about the North American shale plays is that the integrated supermajors were slow off the starting blocks here, watching while the smaller companies swooped in and starting exploring and developing. Those companies got in while things were great—and crucially, before natural gas prices slumped. Big dogs like Shell moved in too late and when they got there they dumped a bunch of cash into operations only to see natural gas prices take a dive. ExxonMobil did the same. For Shell, this balance isn’t working, so we are now seeing some excellent liquids-rich assets up for grabs.

And within the next couple of years, we’re going to see another improvement that will make these assets even more valuable for whoever sweeps them up. The first liquefied natural gas production facility in the Eagle Ford play is slated to launch operations in 2015, courtesy of a subsidiary of Koch Industries. The operation will host five LNG processors in the Texas play to produce LNG for oilfield fuel applications, which will in turn help developers reduce operating costs.

Setting aside the North American shale reshuffle, follow us across the Atlantic this week in our exclusive interview with former BP chief Tony Hayward, now CEO of Anglo-Turkish Genel Energy, which is storming the scene in Iraqi Kurdistan and paving some interesting new roads in even newer, riskier frontiers like Somaliland.

And be sure to check out this week’s offerings in the premium Oil & Energy Insider if you haven’t signed up already.

In Inside Investor Dan Dicker looks as a stock that has managed to travel under the radar and is positioned to make spectacular gains in the future.

Inside Opportunities with Dave Forest takes a look at one number every oil and gas investor needs to know. This is a tool every oil and gas investor needs to understand. Without exaggeration, if you used only this one number to analyze stocks (and used it correctly—more on that in a moment) you’ll beat the market. Simple as that.  THIS IS A MUST READ REPORT

The letter also has four intelligence notes that look at developing geopolitical situation around the work and our oil market forecasts for the coming week.

ADVERTISEMENT

You can read these reports for free by clicking here.

That’s it from us this week.

James Stafford Editor, Oilprice.com


Download The Free Oilprice App Today

Back to homepage





Leave a comment

Leave a comment




EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News