Transaction activity in the Bakken shale was both busy and revealing in the second half of 2017. Many of these deals marked the departure of a number of companies that were known to be active in the play, particularly Halcon Resources. Other companies, however, have remained. This post digs deeper into this.
In this post we address why the shift in oil futures from contango pricing to backwardation is a bearish sign for those in crude oil storage.
As business valuation experts, we have to consider the outlook for the economy, industry, and business in every valuation; therefore, we pay attention to the oil and gas regulatory environment to assess what it means for our clients. Given the new administration, there is much to consider.
This blog post summarizes our whitepaper that provides an informative overview regarding the valuation of mineral royalty interests within the oil and gas industry. While there are a myriad of factors (mostly out of a royalty holder’s control) impacting the economics of a royalty interest, this blog post focuses on valuation methodology.
Royalty underpayment cases are anticipated to remain steady in the current pricing environment. There is an understandable tension between mineral owners’ concern over shrinking payments and operators’ concern over profitability and favorable drilling economics.
Taryn Burgess recently attended the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) Appalachia Chapter Annual Conference in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia. Over the two day conference, speakers addressed many topics including certain aspects of lease agreements, current legislation affecting mineral owners, clean water solutions, clean energy programs, legal issues affecting mineral owners, midstream and storage development, and more. Here is an overview of five key takeaways from the conference.
Why did Mesa Royalty Trust outperform all other royalty trusts over the previous two years and what is the nature of its economic rights and restrictions?
When comparing a royalty interest to an ORRI, it is critical to understand the subtle nuances of the rights and restrictions between the two. Owners of royalty interests utilizing Permian Basin Royalty Trust as a valuation gauge should adjust for such differences as well as other differences between publicly traded and non-marketable securities.
In this blog post, we outline prevalent general themes in the downstream oil market that have given refiners hope for 2018 as well as those that cause skepticism about the future.
Depending on which side of an oil and gas negotiation one is on, Held By Production (HBP) provisions can be a favorable, or unfavorable, value contributor. We discuss the concept and provide helpful information for mineral owners to consider.
We recently published a white paper explaining how to value an E&P company. The purpose of the paper is to provide an informative overview regarding the valuation of exploration and production (E&P) companies operating in the oil and gas industry.
From the first Board Meeting to the last session of the conference, post-production deductions were discussed in great detail at the NARO National Convention. Why were these deductions brought up time and time again? Because post-production deductions affect the value of a mineral owner’s interest yet the regulations surrounding them is somewhat unclear and exists mainly on a contractual basis.
In this post, we consider both the human and industry impact of Hurricane Harvey.
Last week, we analyzed the SEC’s $6.2 million settlement with a Big 4 audit firm relating to auditing failures associated with Miller Energy Resources, an oil and gas company with activities in the Appalachian region of Tennessee and in Alaska. The SEC order determines that the Big 4 audit firm did not properly use the reserve reports conclusion of PV-10 (present value at 10%). This post considers the proper use of reserve reports and risk adjustment factors when determining fair market value.
Originally published on Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, Lucas Parris analyzed the SEC’s $6.2 million settlement with a Big 4 audit firm relating to auditing failures associated with Miller Energy Resources, an oil and gas company with activities in the Appalachian region of Tennessee and in Alaska.
Mercer Capital attended the Summer NAPE Expo in Houston this month. We discuss highlights of the expo in this week’s blog post.
One of the primary challenges for industry participants when valuing and pricing oil and gas reserves is addressing proven undeveloped reserves (PUDs) and unproven reserves. While the market approach can sometimes be used to understand the value of PUDs and unproven reserves, every transaction is unique. Additionally, many transactions that we see today are still a result of the crash in oil prices in 2014; and in some sales of non-core assets, PUDs and unproven reserves have been deemed worthless. Why then, and under what circumstances, might the PUDs and unproven reserves have significant value?
The movement in the future spread away from a contango environment and toward backwardation is positive from a supply and demand perspective. Expectations are a backwardation environment will move crude oil prices higher. However, the exact cause of this change is unknown. While this shift is good news for the industry, company specific risk and investor’s fickle attitudes create volatile equity markets.
There are many reasons that you may want to sell your oil and gas royalty interest, but a lack of knowledge regarding the worth of your royalty interest could be very costly. Whether an inflow of cash would help you make ends meet or finance a large purchase; you no longer want to deal with the administrative paperwork or accounting cost of reconciling monthly revenue payments; or you would prefer to diversify your portfolio or move your investments to a less volatile industry, understanding how royalty interests are valued will ensure that you maximize the value.
Travis W. Harms, senior vice president of Mercer Capital, wrote a series of whitepapers that focused on demystifying corporate finance for board members and shareholders. In this whitepaper, he has distilled the fundamental principles of corporate finance into an accessible and non-technical primer. Structured around the three key decisions of capital structure, capital budgeting, and dividend policy, this whitepaper is designed to assist directors and shareholders without a finance background to make relevant and meaningful contributions to the most consequential financial decisions all companies must make. Mercer Capital’s goal with this whitepaper is to give directors and shareholders a vocabulary and conceptual framework for thinking about strategic corporate finance decisions, allowing them to bring their perspectives and expertise to the discussion.
You don’t need an expert to tell you that the oil and gas industry has significantly changed over the past three years. Simply looking at crude oil and natural gas prices from 2014 versus today can confirm this. However, understanding how the change in oil prices has affected the value of your oil and gas business is a little more difficult.
In case you missed it, this week are rerunning a consistently popular post.
Oil and gas assets represent the majority of value of an E&P company. The Oil and Gas Financial Journal describes reserves as “a measurable value of a company’s worth and a basic measure of its life span.” Thus, understanding the fair market value of a company’s PDP, PDNP, and PUDs is key to understanding the fair market value of the Company.
A thorough understanding of the role of refineries in the oil and gas industry is important in establishing a credible value for a business operating in the refining space. In addition, it is critical to understand the subject company’s position in the market, its operations, and its financial condition. In this post, we walk through industry factors, three valuation approaches, and the importance of synthesizing these factors in order glean a holistic understanding of a company’s value.
On June 19, 2017, EQT announced the acquisition of Rice Energy (RICE) for approximately $6.7 billion. The result of this transaction is the potential creation of a Marcellus and Utica mega-producer. We take a closer look at the deal in this post and present our analysis.
