RP Weekly Recap | January 18 – 22

Summary

It was a big, and historic, week in this country as the 46th President of the United States, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., was ushered into the White House. It was also a week that rocked the oil and gas industry. On his first day in office, Biden signed a series of executive orders that underscored his Clean Energy Revolution — rejoining the Paris Climate Accord; revoking approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada; blocking drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge; and telling agencies to immediately review dozens of Trump-era rules on science, the environment, and public health. In addition, on his second day in office, the Biden administration announced a 60-day suspension of new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters. Ironically, Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL project comes just days after the owners of the pipeline, TC Energy, announced their commitment to become the first pipeline to be fully powered by renewable energy; delivering affordable, reliable energy resources we all rely upon. Check out these stories and more in this week’s recap of all things happening in oil and gas! Also, be sure to tune into our three part series, Biden’s Energy Policy, to be released over the next three weeks that will cover President Biden’s plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and what that means for the global oil and gas industry. 

COVID-19 Updates

COVID-19 Statistics

• Number of Cases (Worldwide): 97,782,860 (up from 93,418,283 last week)
• Number of Cases (USA): 24,673,298 (up from 23,362,050 last week)
• Statistics courtesy of Johns Hopkins

Financial & Economic Updates

U.S. Oil Market News

• President Biden Re-Joins Paris Climate Accord
• Biden Blocks Drilling In ANWR, Among His First Acts As President 
• With A Pen Stroke, President Joe Biden Cancels Keystone XL Pipeline Project
• Keystone XL Commits To Become First Pipeline To Be Fully Powered By Renewable Energy 
• Keystone XL Developer Cuts 1,000 U.S., Canadian Jobs After Biden Nixes Oil Project 
• Biden Administration Suspends New Oil And Gas Drilling Permits On Federal Land 
• Trump Administration Issues Last-Minute Arctic Refuge Drilling Leases 
• Two Major Pacific Northwest Fossil Fuel Projects Dealt Massive Setbacks In One Day
• EIA Reports Small Crude Inventory Build 
• U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fell 10% In 2020 as COVID Curbed Travel 
• Oil And Gas Generated $3.1 Billion In State Revenue For New Mexico Last Year 
• U.S. Gas-Fired Power Generation Set For First Drop Since 2017
• ConocoPhillips Completes Acquisition of Concho Resources 
• EIA Sees WTI at $56 For Q1 2021
• Baker Hughes Posts First Quarterly Profit Since Oil Collapsed In 2020
• SpaceX To Repurpose Oil Rigs For Launch Pads **SO COOL**
• Will Covid-19 Shake Up Capitalism? **INTERESTING READ**

Global Market News

• Iraq Slashes 2021 Oil Exports To India To Meet OPEC+ Quota
• OPEC+ Compliance With Oil Production Pact Drops To 99%
• Norway Awards 61 Oil & Gas Exploration Licenses On Continental Shelf
• Beacon Offshore Energy LLC Reports Deepwater Oil Discovery In Gulf of Mexico 
• Saudi Production Cuts Erase Oil Tanker Earnings
• Oil Majors Are Eyeing A Suriname Offshore Boom
• How Chinese Refiners Are Skirting Venezuela Oil Sanctions
• China Snubs Washington With Big Oil Deals In South Iraq
• India Hopes To Import More Iranian And Venezuelan Crude Under Biden
• Will Argentina’s Vaca Muerta Shale Play Ever Recover?
• Was Saudi Arabia’s Surprise Production Cut A Good Idea? **INTERESTING READ**
• China Is Struggling To Keep Up With Electricity Demand **PREVIOUSLY REPORTED – UPDATES**    

Employment Updates

• Keystone XL Developer Cuts 1,000 U.S., Canadian Jobs After Biden Nixes Oil Project 
• Jobless Claims Dip Modestly Last Week – the report shows the labor market is still struggling amid a surge in coronavirus cases

United States Rig Count

• UP 5 from last week for a total of 378
• Down 52.3% from one year ago
• Statistics courtesy of Baker Hughes

RARE PETRO Updates

Content Updates – News Pulse – Podcast

• A NEW Basin Breakdown for the Month of December, and the last Basin Breakdown of 2020, is available now! Be sure to check out the articles HERE and podcast HERE!  

• Episode 8 (Gamification) from our newest segment, the Modern Mobile Oilfield is available now! This series is a collaborative effort between world renowned author Geoffrey Cann and RP host Tavis Killian that will expand on topics covered in the book “Bits, Bytes, and Barrels”. This new segment is aimed at energy professionals at any level who are looking to better understand the future of a digital oilfield, and potentially implement these technologies into their company’s workflow. Be sure to watch or listen on all available platforms!

• A new episode of the Periodical Podcast is available now! Be sure to check out our discussion on various domestic E&P companies hedging programs and why 2021 looks quite a bit better for the institutions distributing the hedges than the oil companies themselves. 

• This week’s Periodical highlights the fact that the recent and dramatic decline in the price of oil illustrates the risk every oil and gas producer faces with energy commodity price volatility. Although depressed prices forced operators to shut-in production to save their bottom lines, companies with hedges were left in a much better position than those who had forgone the option to reduce the impact of unanticipated revenue declines. Without the protection of an effective hedging program, an upstream company’s cash flows are wholly subject to the volatility of the market. Luckily, with upward price projections for the coming year, institutions distributing hedges to major oil companies for a portion of anticipated production may see greater returns than recent years, most certainly greater than 2020. As the story of 2021 continues to show upward crude price projections, it will be important to keep a close eye on which companies choose to hedge early for guaranteed revenue protection and those that hold out or hold off in hopes of a better tomorrow.

• Episode Ten of The Industry Leader Spotlight Podcast is available now! Be sure to check out our interview with dedicated oil and gas management guru, founder and CEO of Denver-based Halker Consulting, Matt Halker! 

• As Always, A New Monday Madness Podcast!

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