Page 8 - NorthAmOil Week 01 2021

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“Halliburton halted its primary operations in emphasise drilling by completing a major drill-
Venezuela as a result of US sanctions imposed ing programme in the prolific West Karoun oil
on the country. Because of this, Halliburton cluster.
is reducing its Venezuelan workforce,” she
explained. “Halliburton remains committed to If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
maintaining a presence in Venezuela.” the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click
She was speaking after Reuters reported that here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
three little-known companies based in the UAE
– Asia Charm, Issa Shipping and Muhit Mari- NorthAmOil: Shale consolidation continues
time – had begun handling Venezuelan crude in Consolidation of the US shale industry con-
the second half of 2020. The news agency noted tinued over the 2020-21 festive season, with
in late December that the firms in question had Diamondback Energy announcing on Decem-
taken control of about half a dozen tankers pre- ber 21 that it had struck a deal to acquire QEP
viously used to ship Venezuelan oil and fuels and Resources. (See: Shale consolidation continues
then renamed them before resuming shipments over Christmas with Diamondback deals, page
from the South American state. 16) The all-stock transaction was valued at
A spokesman for the US State Department around $2.2bn, including QEP’s net debt, which
responded to questions from Reuters by saying stood at $1.6bn as of September 30, 2020.
that Washington was “closely tracking these Diamondback is a pure play Permian
kinds of creative efforts by companies to avoid Basin-focused company, and the primary attrac-
sanctions.” Meanwhile, authorities in the UAE tion of the deal is considered to be QEP’s assets in There is still
say they have already launched “a thorough and the region’s Midland sub-basin. QEP’s Williston some uncertainty
comprehensive investigation” into the matter. Basin in North Dakota will be considered non-
core and will be used to generate cash flow or about whether
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping sold off, depending on market conditions, the
the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click companies said. The merger is anticipated to Erbil will provide
here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor. close in the first or second quarter of 2021.
Separately, Diamondback announced on SOMO with the
MEOG: Iraqi budget, Iranian exploration the same day that it had agreed to acquire all required volumes
The holiday period was dominated by the news leasehold interests and related assets of Guidon
that Iraq’s government has passed a budget Operating in exchange for 10.63mn shares of its of crude oil.
for 2021, despite issues relating to Kurdish oil common stock and $375mn in cash. That deal is
exports remaining unresolved. Meanwhile, Iran due to close by the end of February.
has once again tasked domestic oil firms with Together, the QEP and Guidon deals will
ramping up production, with a new raft of deals bring Diamondback’s total leasehold interests
handed out to local companies. to over 276,000 net surface acres (1,117 square
While Baghdad has given the green light km) in the Midland Basin. Across both the
to this year’s $103bn budget, there is still some Delaware and Midland basins the company
uncertainty about whether or not Erbil will will have around 429,000 net acres (1,736
provide the State Oil Marketing Organization square km).
(SOMO) with the required 250,000 barrels per The Diamondback deals follows several
day (bpd) of crude stipulated in that budget. other shale-focused mergers and acquisitions
Some sources are suggesting this may not hap- (M&As) that were unveiled in the second half
pen, though KRG officials have said they are of 2020 as operators increasingly saw consoli-
ready to begin deliveries. dation as a means to navigate a market experi-
With Iraqi finances on the edge of collapse, encing unprecedented challenges. Indeed, in
the central bank has also devalued the dinar an update on a separate deal, shareholders of
against the US dollar in a bid to maximise dinar Devon Energy and WPX Energy approved the
revenues from dollar-denominated crude. proposed merger between those two companies
In Iran, the state oil firm NIOC has awarded on December 30, with that transaction set to
$1.2bn worth of deals through subsidiaries for close on January 7.
work at on- and offshore fields with the aim of Other pending deals due to close in the
ramping up oil production. The award follows first quarter of 2021 include Pioneer Natu-
the nearly $1.8bn of contracts awarded to 14 ral Resources’ acquisition of Parsley Energy
local companies in August for the same pur- and ConocoPhillips’ takeover of Concho
pose. Meanwhile, the country has continued to Resources.™

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