U.S. oil companies increase capital expenditure budgets and discuss Permian constraints in second-quarter 2018 financial statements (9/19/2018)

Second-quarter 2018 financial results for 45 U.S. oil exploration and production companies that the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) regularly tracks reveal most companies increased their capital expenditure budgets for 2018 compared with initial budgets made at the beginning of the year. Although some operators plan to increase drilling activity as a result of higher oil prices in 2018, some companies are also raising capital expenditure budgets because of several large corporate acquisitions. These companies’ second-quarter 2018 financial statements also discussed Permian Basin takeaway capacity constraints. Because of the constraints, some operators with a geographically diverse portfolio of upstream assets plan to redirect capital expenditures to other onshore U.S. regions, while others may reduce well completions or look for alternative higher-cost transportation options. ... More »