Topping news this week, the U.S. has talked to large oil producers over ways to increase the supply of crude oil and offset any impact from the reimposition of sanctions on Iran. That’s coming from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. However, Mark Papa, CEO of Centennial Resource Development, told Reuters following a meeting with the board of Saudi Aramco in Houston that’s not likely to happen this year. He said many U.S. shale producers have already set the 2018 spending budgets and are wary of pumping more as shareholders call for higher dividends. Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute in Dallas, said the sanctions could put about one million barrels of crude per day in the oil market at risk. On the other hand, William Featherston, a Credit Suisse analyst, said oil prices and the exploration and production sector will not be affected by the sanctions because the market appears tight.
In other international news, ConocoPhillips is trying to seize PDVSA’s oil assets at the 335,000 bbl/d Isla refinery in Curacao, which would expand its control over the Venezuelan state-run company’s barrels for export. Also, Norway will hold a new licensing round for its offshore oil and gas fields in already opened areas, further expanding the exploration acreage available to energy firms. Those areas include the North, Norwegian, and Barents Sea.
The Energy Capital Conference was held in Dallas this week where the discussions centered on everything from deals to big data. Among the highlights, Jamie Webster of Boston Consulting Group predicted the OPEC deal will end with a slow erosion of the cuts as countries put more barrels on the market. Meanwhile, a group of private equity panelists agreed that much more capital is needed to meet worldwide demand and said now is the time for private companies to create value while public companies are somewhat out of favor with investors.
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