Canada's export credit agency on Wednesday said it would backstop loans to hard hit oil and gas producers, in the latest move by Ottawa to free up credit for the struggling energy industry. Banks are reviewing borrowing limits in the sector and could head off bankruptcies of small and mid-sized energy firms pummeled by the collapse in oil prices. Canadian banks have eased some lending standards but are expected to chop credit lines as they recalculate energy companies' borrowing bases to [Read more]
Headlines
Kinder Morgan increases dividend five percent and announces results for first quarter of 2020
HOUSTON - Kinder Morgan, Inc.’s (NYSE: KMI) board of directors today approved a cash dividend of $0.2625 per share for the first quarter ($1.05 annualized), payable on May 15, 2020, to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 4, 2020. This dividend represents a 5 percent increase over the fourth quarter 2019. KMI is reporting first quarter net loss attributable to KMI of $306 million, compared to net income attributable to KMI of $556 million in the first quarter of [Read more]
Sierra Club loses legal fight against environmental exemptions for frack dams
VANCOUVER - An environmental group has lost its legal challenge to regulatory exemptions given to a pair of dams in northern British Columbia. The dams were built by Progress Energy to store water for its natural gas fracking operations. The Supreme Court of British Columbia heard that the company inadvertently built the dams too high, which brought into force environmental regulations the dams couldn't meet. The province then granted the company an exemption from those [Read more]
Keyera Reducing its Capital Program and Suspending its Dividend Reinvestment Plan
CALGARY - Keyera Corp. (TSX:KEY) ("Keyera") announced today that it is preserving its financial flexibility by reducing its 2020 capital program following a decision to defer construction of the KAPS pipeline system for approximately one year. Keyera is also suspending its Premium DividendTM and Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP"). These actions are in response to challenging industry conditions related to the unfolding COVID-19 crisis and the significant decrease in global oil prices. One [Read more]
Whether OPEC+ formally agrees, deeper oil cuts now look inevitable
Whether or not OPEC+ oil producers formally agree to extra oil output curbs, rapidly filling storage capacity and plummeting demand due to the coronavirus crisis may force them to cut more. With crude consumption collapsing, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, is due to implement a deal to cut supply by a record 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from May 1. But that unprecedented deal to withdraw about 10% of global [Read more]
Oklahoma will let struggling oil producers halt output without breaking contracts
Oklahoma's energy regulator on Wednesday ruled in favor of an oil company's emergency application to classify some oil production as economic waste, enabling producers to maintain leases where production is halted due to low prices. The decision represents the first win by regional oil groups seeking relief from state regulators as prices fall to levels that are not profitable to pump. Global crude supplies have overwhelmed demand that has fallen more than 30% due to the coronavirus [Read more]
U.S. crude and fuel stockpiles extend builds last week -EIA
Stockpiles of crude, along with gasoline and distillate fuels rose sharply last week as more oil heads into storage due to weak demand induced by the coronavirus pandemic, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories rose by 15 million barrels in the week to April 17 to 518.6 million barrels, putting them within striking distance of an all-time record of 535 million barrels set in 2017. Inventories are expected to keep rising, due to weak overall demand and an [Read more]
Enerplus shutting in U.S. and Canadian wells due to low crude oil prices
CALGARY - Enerplus Corp. is shutting down oil wells and again cutting its capital spending plans due to low crude prices linked to measures taken to control the COVID-19 pandemic. In an announcement two days after benchmark U.S. oil futures prices fell into negative territory for the first time in history, Enerplus says it will cut another $25 million to take its 2020 capital budget to $300 million. The reduction and a previous one announced in mid-March leaves it at about 55 per cent of [Read more]
Oil prices recover ground after market turmoil fuels price plunge
Oil prices found some respite on Wednesday as U.S. oil futures rose more than 20% and Brent prices steadied after a two-day price plunge, as markets struggle with a massive crude glut amid the coronavirus outbreak. After falling into negative territory for the first time in history amid record trading volumes, U.S. crude futures rose 20% as contracts for May delivery expired and the June contract became the front month. West Texas Intermediate was up $1.37, or 10.51%, at $14.40 a [Read more]
Brilliant Michael Moore documentary: Much needed environmental reality check comes from the unlikeliest place, and he’s dead right
On this evening’s entertainment schedule, the planned binge-watch of the rest of Season 3 of Trailer Park Boys is going to have to wait. I’ll have to find out tomorrow if Ricky and his 8-year-old daughter, following a particularly poignant episode, were able to quit smoking together by using the patch. Tonight I have to clear the deck for the new Michael Moore documentary, Planet of the Humans, available on YouTube (and is embedded below this post). It is going to be so brilliant I might [Read more]