US independents fall back on diversified assets

摘要

The fall in oil prices to below $30/bl in the first quarter reinforced the financial divide between US independents that have maintained a diversified international upstream asset base at the same time as investing in US shale, and those that are wholly focused on US onshore shale acreage. The former includes larger US firms ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), Anadarko Petroleum, Hess and Apache, which have maintained a global footprint with a wide array of assets, from deepwater projects to oil sands and LNG. The second group includes EOG Resources, Continental Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources and Whiting Petroleum, with operations only in US shale basins. Falling US shale spending is weighing on output for both groups, but previous investment in larger-scale capital projects is starting to pay off for the diversified group.