In this post, we capture the key takeaways from fourth quarter 2020 earnings calls from E&P operators.
A weekly update on issues important to the oil and gas industry
In this post, we capture the key takeaways from fourth quarter 2020 earnings calls from E&P operators.
Oftentimes differences are a matter of perspective. Put another way – one person’s loss can be another person’s gain. One of the thematic differences between producers and mineral owners is their perspective on “Held By Production.” It elicits very different reactions depending on what side of the term one is on, and has a leverageable impact on value. With rig counts dropping to around half of last year’s count, how much acreage will be available for re-leasing this year? In this post, we decided to spend some time exploring this concept and its impact on the energy industry.
Irrespective of what industry or sector a company may operate in, a fundamental question arises as mergers and acquisitions persist and company boards and management teams survey their options when a proposed transaction is put on the table: is it fair to all direct stakeholders? This post reviews the basics of fairness opinions and when you should obtain one.
The recent rise of oil prices is a welcome sign to mineral and royalty holders across the board. Low valuations may not last for much longer though. In the meantime, let us expound a bit on the forces keeping mineral and royalty valuations in their existing state.
Public transactions do not disclose the value associated with PUDs and unproven reserves, but instead, they indicate an aggregate value for a bundle of assets. The allocation of that value across the various assets acquired is up for debate. Recent transaction sheds some light on asset pricing in the current environment.
Year-end 2020 saw a flurry of tax-purposed project activity across all of Mercer Capital’s offices, with clients’ Estate Planning Counsel having recommended numerous gifts and other estate planning related transactions before 2020 came to a close. While we are all happy to have put 2020 in the rearview mirror, the passing of December 31st does not mean that the gifting opportunity has elapsed. Despite some level of recovery for parts of the Oilfield Services industry during Q4-2020, valuations remain at significantly depressed levels from where they were prior to March 2020. In addition, early indications of the Biden Administration’s intentions in regard to estate taxation indicate that the benefit of estate planning transactions will likely be greater in 2021 than in 2020.
December was a busy month at Mercer Capital, and at business valuation firms across the country. Clients sought to make gifts and perform other estate planning transactions ahead of year-end. But the changing of the calendar does not mean that the window for gifting is over. The factors that led to a rush of estate planning transaction activity during 2020 largely remain. The combination of depressed E&P valuations, the potential for future tax changes, and the ability to utilize minority interest and marketability discounts are still present in 2021.
As we hope for a better 2021, we look back at 2020 to see what was popular with you – our readers. This post includes a list of some of our top posts of 2020.
A reserve report is a fascinating disclosure of information. This is, in part, because the disclosures reveal the strategies and financial confidence an E&P company believes about itself in the near future. Strategies include capital budgeting decisions, future investment decisions, and cash flow expectations. In this post, we provide a general overview of a reserve report, detailing why they’re important, what they contain, and how they’re prepared.
Oil and gas analysts use many different metrics to explain and compare the value of an oil and gas company, specifically an exploration and production (E&P) company. The most popular metrics (at least according to our eyeballs) include (1) EV/Production; (2) EV/Reserves; (3) EV/Acreage; and (4) EV/EBITDA(X). Enterprise Value (EV) may also be termed Market Value of Invested Capital (MVIC) and is calculated by the market capitalization of a public company plus debt on the balance sheet less cash on the balance sheet. In this post, we will dive into one of these four metrics, the EV/Production metric, and explore the most popular uses of it.
