U.S. crude oil producers increased the amount and share of production covered by financial hedges in Q2 2020 (9/30/2020)

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) analysis of financial disclosures from 77 publicly traded U.S. crude oil producers, financial hedging activity in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 increased year on year from the second quarter of 2019. As of their second quarter filings, these 77 companies entered into hedging contracts covering 673 million barrels of crude oil for the next four quarters, compared with the 583 million barrels of coverage provided during the same time last year (Figure 1). These companies collectively accounted for 3.9 million barrels per day (b/d), or 36% of total U.S. crude oil production, in Q2 2020. Crude oil producers enter into hedging contracts to lock in a specific price or range of possible prices that they will receive when selling their oil production in the future, thereby minimizing exposure to changing prices and increasing the stability and predictability of revenues. If these companies produce at the same levels they averaged during Q2 2020, these hedges would cover 47% of production during the following year, up from 41% during the equivalent period in Q2 2019. ... More »