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The shale industry could be swallowed by its own debt
Posted by Bloomberg: Asjylyn Loder on June 20th, 2015
Bloomberg: The debt that fueled the U.S. shale boom now threatens to be its undoing.
Drillers are devoting more revenue than ever to interest payments. In one example, Continental Resources Inc., the company credited with making North Dakota’s Bakken Shale one of the biggest oil-producing regions in the world, spent almost as much as Exxon Mobil Corp., a company 20 times its size.
The burden is becoming heavier after oil prices fell 43 percent in the past year. Interest payments are eating up more than...
Sumitomo’s Loss Shows Shale Isn’t Booming for Everybody
Posted by Bloomberg: Asjylyn Loder on October 20th, 2014
Bloomberg: Land in the Permian Basin, the busiest shale patch in the U.S. oil boom, is worth either $1,000 an acre or 50 times more, depending.
On Sept. 29, Calgary-based driller Encana Corp. (ECA) announced plans to buy a company that owns a West Texas prospect for $7.1 billion, or about $50,000 an acre. One day later, Tokyo-based Sumitomo Corp. estimated its land in the same region was worth a fraction of that price when it took a $1.55 billion writedown on its investment.
The disparity shows how fickle...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Sumitomo’s Loss Shows Shale Isn’t Booming for EverybodyShakeout Threatens Shale Patch as Frackers Go for Broke
Posted by Bloomberg: Asjylyn Loder on May 26th, 2014
Bloomberg: The U.S. shale patch is facing a shakeout as drillers struggle to keep pace with the relentless spending needed to get oil and gas out of the ground.
Shale debt has almost doubled over the last four years while revenue has gained just 5.6 percent, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of 61 shale drillers. A dozen of those wildcatters are spending at least 10 percent of their sales on interest compared with Exxon Mobil Corp.’s 0.1 percent.
“The list of companies that are financially stressed...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Shakeout Threatens Shale Patch as Frackers Go for BrokeU.S. Shale-Oil Boom May Not Last as Fracking Wells Lack Staying Power
Posted by Bloomberg: Asjylyn Loder on October 11th, 2013
Bloomberg: Chesapeake Energy’s (CHK) Serenity 1-3H well near Oklahoma City came in as a gusher in 2009, pumping more than 1,200 barrels of oil a day and kicking off a rush to drill that extended into Kansas. Now the well produces less than 100 barrels a day, state records show. Serenity’s swift decline sheds light on a dirty secret of the oil boom: It may not last. Shale wells start strong and fade fast, and producers are drilling at a breakneck pace to hold output steady. In the fields, this incessant need...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. Shale-Oil Boom May Not Last as Fracking Wells Lack Staying PowerFracking Pushes U.S. Oil Output to Highest Since 1992
Posted by Bloomberg: Asjylyn Loder on July 11th, 2013
Bloomberg: U.S. oil production jumped last week to the highest level since January 1992, cutting consumption of foreign fuel and putting the U.S. closer to energy independence.
Drilling techniques including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, pushed crude output up by 134,000 barrels, or 1.8 percent, to 7.401 million barrels a day in the seven days ended July 5, the Energy Information Administration said today.
Rising crude supplies from oilfields including North Dakota’s Bakken shale and the Eagle Ford...