MIDSTREAM & MORE:
Tulsa Heaters Midstream is focused on providing useful and informative content to our customers, suppliers, and anyone else that wants to follow along. Each Wednesday, we will post links to interesting articles from around the web relating to the midstream oil and gas industry and more. Posts could include articles that talk about one or more aspects of the industry, including:
- State of oil and gas industry/pricing
- Oil and gas companies and their businesses
- Major news releases
- Gas processing plants
- Pipeline/infrastructure projects
- Many others
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016:
We start this week overseas. There has been a lot in the news over the last month about the possible 'production freeze' from both OPEC and non-OPEC members. The main problem, as viewed by most, is that it appeared difficult to get all other countries to buy in to the plan. This last week, it appears that this fear is real with discussions around Iran possibly not being included in the 'freeze'.
Is Iran Exempt from Oil Freeze?
In nearby Iraq, some good news. This last week, Iraq exports first natural gas shipment in it's history.
Closer to home, we are starting to see even more stress on the market because of the downturn. One thing that can happen during a market tightening is that the Merger & Acquisition activity starts to increase. This last week we saw that TransCanada has agreed to buy Columbia Pipeline Group for $13 billion.
Another thing that we see in the lower market conditions (and we have talked about before on the blog) is that companies start borrowing more and more money to help keep afloat until the market returns (hopefully). Some companies, like Chesapeake Energy, are looking at some less than traditional ways to take on even more debt to stay afloat. Will the market turn around fast enough for this method to work? Only time will tell.
One thing that we (and many of you) are astutely aware of is that as the market tightens and end users start spending less money, the equipment manufacturers also face tough times. The Freedonia Group recently published a study on the impact to the midstream equipment segment. The report concludes that while 2016 will be a tough year, they expect spending to return to 'healthy' levels by 2019. That's good news for all of us equipment guys (although we would be OK with a 2018 return to spending as well)!
Last week we discussed some of the political candidates in the U.S. and their stances on energy. Having a stance for or against the oil & gas market is not necessarily a political party point (or it hasn't been traditionally). But recent years have seen a decent amount of push back against the oil & gas community. This last week we found a good article outlining some of the things that need to be kept in mind by those that oppose the oil & gas market significantly.
10 'Reality Check' Problems That Must Be Addressed By Opponents Of Coal, Oil And Natural Gas
Let's end on a good note this week! This week a report was made public about the Liard Basin in Canada. The report notes that the basin is expected to contain 219 tcf of marketable, unconventional gas, making it one of the world's largest.
Make sure to check back on Friday of this week. We are going to be providing a nice resource related to thermal fluids used in hot oil heaters. Don't miss it!
CONCLUSION:
Tune in next week (same bat time, same bat channel) to see what else we have dug up from across the web.
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Legal note: The views expressed in the linked content does not reflect the views of THM or its employees.