#oilandgas

now FOX news changed the title, "oil and gas" instead of "oil"

As Oxy gets smaller, less complex and has less runway…it’s time to think about an exit plan…the leadership has to be thinking that Buffet is less than 600 days from expiration and self enrichment is the best strategy for the company.

Oxy will not drill its way to prosperity in 2026.

What do the boots on the ground think? About the adventure ahead?

Which site is safer: DPK or SPM? I recently got a job offer for SPM but I’d have to move my family from TX to PA. Thats a huge change considering it’s PA.

We’re talking betrayal. We’re talking families packing up U-Hauls in the dead of night. And yeah, we’re calling it out: Chevron’s big-money grab on PDC Energy back in ‘23? It straight-up gutted our oil and gas workforce here in Colorado. Let’s unpack why this merger turned our bo-m into a bust.

Remember when Chevron swooped in with that $7.6 billion all-stock deal for PDC? They painted it as some powerhouse combo – “largest producer in Colorado,” 1,000+ drilling permits, free cash flow for days.  Sounded like job heaven, right? PDC was us – Denver-based, boots-on-the-ground in the DJ Basin, keeping rigs humming and paychecks steady. But fast-forward to 2025, and Chevron’s playing a different game. Global cuts? Up to 20% of their workforce gone by ‘26, slashing $3 billion in costs.  Here in the Mile High? 125 souls from their Denver office shown the door starting July 1st.  That’s not just numbers – that’s roughnecks, geologists, admins who coached Little League and bought rounds at the Water Course.
But wait, it gets uglier. Brownfield sites? The ones PDC was reworking like pros? Work’s nearly halted. Companies that sunk cash into upgrades for Chevron’s “efficiencies”? They’re idling equipment, laying off crews, folding tents.  And the rigs? Man, the DJ-Niobrara rig count cratered to just 5 by May – lowest since the pandemic slump.  Chevron’s not immune; whispers from the patch say they’re down to a skeleton crew – one rig spinning where PDC had multiples turning ’round the clock. Drilling deferred, completions paused. Why? Centralized hubs over local know-how. Sell off $2 billion in pipelines to some faceless buyer, ship decisions to Houston. Efficiency, they call it. Devastation, we call it!

Our communities – Greeley, Windsor, the whole Front Range – built on this black gold. Schools funded, diners packed, youth football thriving. Now? Ghost towns in the making. Chevron’s “stronger future” pitch?  It’s stronger for their shareholders, weaker for us.

Look, I ain’t anti-big oil – he-l, this industry’s in my blood. But when a merger like Chevron-PDC promises growth and delivers ghost rigs? We have to speak up!

Now they are moving in ksi and pushing out what’s left of the family owned local companies. Chevron will be using fortress, 1888/4x and KSI so good luck to all you contractors here soon you will be replaced and chevron does not care one bit they will just weed you out and make you want to leave!

LET ME REPEAT CHEVRON DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. YOU ARE JUST A NUMBER NOTHING MORE OR LESS.

APA has been very quiet lately. There’s little talk about their subsidized position in Suriname 🇸🇷 or the 25ft of pay they discovered in a 10,000 ft well..

What’s really going on?
Will Apache sell Egypt?

The market does not think APA wants to P&A both the GoA and the North Sea…when they can drop it off on bp and Exxon….Just like Fieldwood did to them…
JC 2026 is the year that APA gets smaller

Here is the location of my job:

https://jobs.exxonmobil.com/search/?q=Engineer&locationsearch=India

As an engineer working in Canada in Okl & Gas for 25+ years, where can I work now??

No need to answer my question. I already found it.

We’re talking about suits, government administrations… oh my!!!

Be honest to yourself!
why do you think this industry pays so well?
Because we’re smarter than everyone else? No. It’s because we’re supposed to deal with downturns.

This is oil & gas.
Downturns have been part of our DNA since the Drake Well was drilled more than 160 years ago.
We’ve seen them before, and we’ll see them again.

We've hit our goal of 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Permian Basin.

We've created the opportunity to grow free cash flow for years to come.

I recently joined Viridien thinking that this was a progressive company making progress on social issues like equity and moving away from oil and gas towards the energy transition and renewables. Lately it feels like these goals have been completely abandoned with a real lack of direction and no ambition. Don’t be fooled by the values that the company promotes externally as there is no conviction behind any of it.

Petrofac a North Sea oil and energy services group, could file for insolvency as early as Monday morning before markets open, it has been reported.
The company’s board is reportedly holding emergency meetings over the weekend to discuss the possible collapse of the firm, putting around 2,000 jobs in Scotland under risk.

They did some shady stuff and they completely went full negligent…does the market reward this behavior or break it up into regional pieces….

Shell and BP are using their services

The original announcement was, Imperial Oil will lay off 900 staff from Calgary to reduce operating cost, and staff at the asset level will remain untouched. But, now I find out that they will layoff from Strathcona refinery too.

What happened? Did I miss understand the original announcement? Or, is it IOL management lying to us again?

Administrators are on standby this weekend to handle the collapse of Petrofac, the oil and energy services group - an insolvency which could threaten the future of more than 2,000 jobs in Scotland.

Sky News has learnt that directors of Petrofac have lined up Teneo for an administration process which could be confirmed as early as Monday morning.

Oil producers go to battle over mineral rights in Arkansas’ Smackover formation

Jamie Smyth in El Dorado, Arkansas

Published
Apr 23 2025

ExxonMobil has defeated an attempt by rival Occidental Petroleum to contest its production rights on one of the largest lithium deposits in the US, as oil companies fight for a foothold in the critical minerals business.

The regulatory battle in Arkansas between two of the largest US oil companies comes as the Trump administration rushes to boost domestic extraction and processing of critical minerals to break American industry’s reliance on Chinese supplies.

Lithium, a crucial ingredient in high-powered batteries used in the electric vehicle and defence industries, is a priority for Washington as Chinese companies process almost two-thirds of the world’s lithium supplies.

Exxon, Equinor and Occidental are among companies racing to develop lithium extraction and processing facilities in the Smackover, a geological formation stretching across Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.          

A US Geological Survey study published in October estimated there was between 5mn and 19mn tonnes of lithium reserves in underwater brines in the south-west Arkansas portion of the Smackover. If commercially recoverable, this would meet the projected 2030 global demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over, it said.

Saltwerx and other producers in the Smackover intend to use direct lithium extraction technology, a process in which lithium is pulled out of brine while leaving other dissolved compounds behind.

There are still questions over whether the technology can be a commercial success when compared to hard rock lithium mining and evaporation ponds, a low-cost technique used in Latin America.

This week Saltwerx, an Exxon subsidiary, was granted the right to establish a 56,000-acre lithium production unit by regulators over the objections of Occidental, which argued it owned minerals rights in the area and had plans to produce lithium.

An Exxon spokesperson said the decision could help unlock the domestic lithium industry, support jobs and strengthen American energy security.

“Attempts to delay progress could jeopardise economic growth for Arkansas and undermine US efforts to reduce dependence on foreign critical minerals,” she said.

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour.
https://www.ft.com/content/7b229e31-692a-4342-8973-3147f6063a99

Saltwerx intends to begin producing lithium in 2028. It forecasts that it can generate $27mn in annual profit from producing 165,000 barrels of lithium brine per day, according to a regulatory filing.      

An Occidental spokesman said the company routinely participated in hearings with state regulators to develop operating agreements that ensured the responsible and fair development of resources for all interest owners.

The commission also approved an application by SWA Lithium, a joint venture between Standard Lithium and Equinor, to establish a rival production unit in south-west Arkansas. Last week the Trump administration selected it as one of 10 critical minerals projects that it would prioritise.

https://www.ft.com/content/7b229e31-692a-4342-8973-3147f6063a99

Ryan “poorly tailored suits” Lance, CEO of ConocoPhilllips, stated

"We probably plateau later this decade," Lance said. "It's going to be slow decline beyond that, because there's a lot of resource."

What’s your technical perspective or intuition on production declines and soaring OPEX now that Ryan is viewed with contempt by field personnel particularly Marathon and Concho Honchos

General update: US Silica was purchased by the Apollo Group ("wealth management firm") in August 2024.
Almost immediately layoffs in the corporate structure (not surpising, given a buyout)
Company is now ULTRA focused on cash - so very little capital spending, really digging into every bit of money spent.
Rumor is that they're trying to sell the Oil & Gas plants.
ISP - They laid off all of the mining employees at the Lovelock, NV plant. (Most of them got rehired by the contractor that they hired to run the mine now.) Several plant employees also laid off, not sure how many.
Decisions being made at the corporate level without regard/knowledge of how the DE plants run are going to make it impossible to keep the plants open. Orders in general on the DE side have been low since Nov 2024.
I'd stay away from US Silica. They also have a history of laying people off right after performance reviews (in November) . That way they don't have to pay any bonuses, since you have to be employed in March of the next year to collect the bonus from the year before.

Rumors flying around that Chevron’s North Dakota assets are seeking a suitable purchaser. Folks on the ground what’s your perspective? Possible or Impossible…love it when they say impossible

Story by Mella McEwen

ExxonMobil officials, like all other oil and gas producers, are closely watching the current economic climate. The company recently announced a reduction of 2,000 jobs — none in the U.S. — as part of a long-term restructuring plan.

“We are worried about prices,” said Rich Dealy, vice president, Permian Basin, with ExxonMobil.

Addressing Hart Energy’s Dug Permian conference, he continued, “Our depth of inventory is impressive even at current prices.”

Dealy said ExxonMobil is worried less about oil prices and more about efficiency gains, with a team of skilled workers focused on improving efficiencies and refining drilling and completion costs. A vast majority of its Permian Basin wells and operations are monitored from a central hub.

“We have a number of good zones across the basin,” he said. He sees the rising amount of natural gas being produced in association with crude oil as an opportunity, but the Permian needs sufficient takeaway capacity to realize that opportunity.

The multinational giant currently produces 1.5 million barrels per day from its Permian Basin holdings, with plans to increase that to 2.3 million barrels per day by 2030.

“The Permian is a gift to the U.S.,” he said, predicting ExxonMobil will be developing resources in the Permian Basin for decades to come. “We predict production will continue to grow, oil and natural gas demand will still be tremendous, at least through midcentury.” Despite the rising use of renewables, he said the company estimates oil and gas will still provide over 50% of the world’s energy.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/exxonmobil-permian-growth-targets-2-3m-bpd-by-2030/

https://jacobin.com/2025/10/canada-oil-us-profits-workers

Thoughts?

Existing operating model was developed after covid when they acquired a company. ConocoPhillips was a great company before but that 4 to 1 ratio in the Permian, compromised the core.

The need to liquidate the artesia New Mexico office and part of Midland office has been conversation for 4 years. That shift will align with SPIRIT values.

Corporate finally confirmed that vendors have to pay to play. Hang on to your cowboy hats, it's going to get bumpy!

As it turns out, that career path was just a revolving door disguised as opportunity. You blink, and the next round of layoffs wipes out another crew. It’s too bad we all bought into the stability myth. All of us should’ve seen the writing on the wall much sooner.

Seeing lots of 2nd tier GoA acquisition players both in the office and some have made it offshore. This is not platform tie back or host opportunities. What GoA assets are on the market? Does the strategy to simplify and improve asset quality make sense?

….reposting a thread that was deleted for no reason…..

Shell is trying to reduce OpEx by reducing number of engineers in North America (USA and Canada) and offshoring the jobs to cheaper countries like India.

But is it really working? I see TAO folks come here, work for some time in North America, and then go back to India and quit. They go to a competing company at a higher salary.

How does that make sense from cost reduction perspective? And how will all the technical knowledge be retained??

Council Chairs established and members nominated. Mobility surveys have not closed yet but ppl have already started disappearing from QP (most are involuntary). Staffing & selection process is on by first week of November and we all know how this game works - similar to how PADP is run in this company, rife with politics. Good luck to those who wants to remain employed!

What will Exxon do now that Guyana wants LNG and gas to shore. 2026 will be the year that the Guyana miracles turns sour….

Predict and manifest Conoco’s reality for 2026 and beyond!
Will the company continue record production rates?
Will increases in incidents occur due to less people and more responsibilities?
What assets will be divested?
Will CEO buy better tailored suits?

What’s the latest from Apache’s Permian Basin operations? How’s the AI drilling and optimization process coming along? When do the recently completed wells experience deep declines as was seen in 2017-2021 era or is the rock and completion practices far improved?

Have those been affected by the planned reductions been notified yet or given clues? Here at Imperial and EM Canada? Asking for a friend...

Analysis By NAN Business Editor
News Americas, Georgetown, Guyana, Tues. Oct. 14, 2025: ExxonMobil’s Guyana President, Alistair Routledge on Monday claimed the company is “still operating in the red to the tune of around US$6 billion” in Guyana, as he retorted over to a question by three U.S. senators on the company’s tax breaks. So which number is closer to reality: $6 billion or $3.4 billion in losses?

What Routledge Said
Speaking at Exxon’s Ogle, East Coast Demerara headquarters, Routledge told reporters that the NGO Oil and Gas Governance Network, (OGGN) may have misled U.S. senators about the company’s tax filings. He said that ExxonMobil Guyana is still operating with a negative cash flow of around six billion US dollars.

“We continue to be actually cash flow negative on an accumulative basis… we are probably still around six billion US dollars in negative cash flow as we look at the cumulative expenditures and cumulative revenues that we’ve seen from the Stabroek Block,” he told reporters.

Routledge asserted that in ExxonMobil Corporation’s 2023 and 2024 tax filings, there were no Guyanese tax credits included in either of those filings, “and you would recall that prior to 2023, we were not making profits here in Guyana, so there were no tax credits from that. Up until this point, there have been no Guyana tax credits used by ExxonMobil.”

The Alternative Figure: $3.4 Billion
But Exxon’s own Guyana website identifies a different figure: US$3.4 billion in red ink — even while acknowledging an accounting profit in 2024. According to Exxon’s 2024 financials:

Gross production rose sharply with the Prosperity FPSO, boosting revenue for all partners

Despite posting an accounting profit, the company said it remains “in the red” by US$3.4 billion

Exxon and its co-venturers have invested a cumulative US$55 billion in Guyana to date.

This divergence begs the question: how can a company be both profitable on paper and yet claim to be billions in losses?

The Contractual Context
Under the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), Exxon’s Guyana deal allows it to recover up to 75% of its share of oil revenue for cost recovery before profit payments begin. In practice, this means a large portion of early revenue goes to recovering the developer’s costs- capital, exploration, infrastructure – leaving little net profit early on.

Furthermore, financials for 2024 show:

Operating expenditures of GYD 477.6 billion

Depreciation/amortization at GYD 301.8 billion

Exploration, production, royalties also eat into margins

These mechanics help explain how Exxon could legitimately claim negative cash flow despite strong revenues.

Why It Matters for Guyana
The optics of a $6B loss vs $3.4B matters deeply for public trust, fiscal policy, and future licensing. Guyana has collected over US$6.2 billion in oil profits and royalties since 2020 – so when Exxon claims it’s in the red, critics say the narrative raises concerns about transparency and fairness. If Exxon can delay or reduce profit sharing through cost recovery claims, that changes the magnitude and timing of what Guyana as a partner actually realizes.

Bottom Line
Both $6 billion and $3.4 billion claims could contain grains of truth, depending on accounting methods, timing, amortization and recovery policies.
Routledge emphasized cash flow negativity and absence of Guyanese tax credits in filings.

Exxon’s public data insists on a lower loss figure despite profits.

The discrepancy boils down to methodology, timing, and cost recovery mechanics.
So, while the $6B figure commands headlines, the $3.4B estimate rooted in Exxon’s own reporting asks where did the almost three additional billion come from?. It’s really a question of how loss and profit are really defined.

https://www.newsamericasnow.com/exxonmobil-guyana-loss-vs-profit-2025/

How has the fracking on Teapot Dome working out ?

It’s clear that what Mike Wirth is doing is cannibalizing Chevron for dividends to try to make it look like it’s a good company to invest in. No reserves = no future. Look at his history with the company. It’s all downward. Now he’s cannibalizing the company so that when he leaves, he leaves with a nice chunk of change.

Exactly what @am+1k728pwka said.

Can anyone shed light on how promotions to CL30 work? Of course, one needs to have exec potential.

Does one need an Exec sponsor? Is two consecutive Outstanding enough to get there after CL29?

Please FACTS only ... no bul--hit ... all cr-bab-es only read and learn ... don't need BTC/KLTC as well ...

Tomorrow is Monday and a very important week at JRC. A PGL told me that layoffs will take place Thursday and Friday. If you work in FE/RXT and SP, get ready. You won't have a job next Monday. Serious business. Don't dismiss this.

Don't say you weren't warned b

But I’m a chicken. I’ve got a family, aging parents, bills that keep climbing, and debt that isn’t going anywhere, while the options out there shrink by the day. So yeah, I’m worried out of my mind. It’s not helpful, but I honestly don’t know how to help myself. Most of us don’t have solid ground to stand on or savings to weather the storm.

I have a feeling that if I get let go in the coming round, the overwhelming feeling will actually be relief. Maybe that’s just me coping, but I’ve been fed up with this place for so long that it overshadows everything else.

I guess I was a sleep at the wheel and misssed this announcement. Did anyone hear from Oxy about the new rules for the catchup portion of our 401K. It looks like you might still be able to add to a Roth, but I used the pre-tax catachup for years now since I am older and could use it. I guess the govt needs more upfront tax dollars. This is an extra 2K a year I will be paying in taxes. Glad I am retiring in 2026.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/some-americans-lose-popular-401k-tax-break-major-retirement-rule-change-starting-2026

I hear Shale is crashing. Layoffs

TOTAL WASTE OF TIME

https://straussborrelli.com/2025/05/13/national-oilwell-varco-warn-act-investigation/

An oil company whose headquarters are in the ClayDesta area is getting ready to bring in hundreds of new employees — they just need a place to park.

Approximately 250 employees are set to move from XTO Energy’s offices at 6401 Holiday Hill Road to the former Pioneer Natural Resources offices at 3617 N. Big Spring St.

ExxonMobil, which acquired Pioneer last year and is the parent company of XTO, is preparing to accommodate those additional employees. The company has broken ground on a new parking lot south of the Pioneer building that will have 300 additional spaces. Completion of the new parking lot is expected before next summer.

ExxonMobil is spending $10.4 million on interior renovations to the second level of the Pioneer building to accommodate the XTO employees. Completion is expected by the end of the year.

“(The renovations) reflect our ongoing commitment to our local employees and the Permian Basin community,” officials told the Reporter-Telegram. “We’re better together and, through this move, are prioritizing collaboration, knowledge sharing, productivity and company culture.”

All local ExxonMobil employees are expected to be accommodated at the corporate office, as well as the former Pioneer Midkiff location at 2625 County Road 180 in Garden City and 4815 E. Highway 80.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/exxon-is-making-room-as-it-readies-for-more-employees-at-pioneer-campus/