Energy Valuation Insights

A weekly update on issues important to the oil and gas industry

Special Topics

Master Limited Partnerships

Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) are publicly traded partnerships, which reap the tax benefits of a partnership and the liquidity benefits of a public company. In this post, we address both the history of MLPs and considerations when valuing them.

Mergers, Acquisitions, & Divestitures

Noble Energy Buys Clayton Williams: A Closer Look at the Acquisition

On January 16, 2017, Noble Energy, Inc. announced the acquisition of all Clayton Williams Energy equity for approximately $2.7 billion in NBL stock and cash. Noble Energy is a global independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Their acquisition of CWEI demonstrates an effort to accelerate high margin growth by focusing capital in productive regions such as the Permian Basin.

Bankruptcy Domestic Production Mergers, Acquisitions, & Divestitures Permian Basin

2016 Oil and Gas: A Year in Review

2016 was a year to remember and a year to forget for many in the oil and gas industry. On the positive side, energy commodity prices curbed their downward, volatile nature by finishing the year at higher prices than where they started. In this post, we survey how the industry ended the year from production and supply to bankruptcies and transactions as we look to 2017.

Bakken Shale

Quick Facts: Bakken

Each quarter, Mercer Capital’s Exploration & Production Industry newsletter provides an overview of the E&P sector, including world demand and supply, public market performance, valuation multiples for public companies, and a region focus. Mercer Capital closely follows oil and gas trends in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, Bakken Shale, and Marcellus and Utica Shale. Last quarter our E&P newsletter, focused on the Bakken Shale. Today, we take a step back and review the broad characteristics of the Bakken Shale.

Special Topics

Renewable Fuel Standards and Refiners

Trump’s nominations suggest that the upcoming presidential term will provide a friendly oil and gas environment. While it is unclear what the President-elect’s plan is for the RFS program, it is likely that he will face challenges balancing farm and oil interests.

Special Topics

An Introduction to Dividends and Dividend Policy for Private Companies

As the calendar year draws to a close, many private companies consider the issue of dividends and dividend policy. Originally published in his book, Unlocking Private Company Wealth, Z. Christopher Mercer, FASA, CFA, ABAR provides an introduction to dividends and dividend policy. He begins with the obvious observation that no matter how informal, your company has a dividend policy.

Permian Basin

The Permian Basin: Loaves and Fishes

One of the most commonly taught Bible stories is the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Last week we learned of a new miracle story of never ending sustenance. The Permian Basin, which has been drilled since the 1920s and produced billions of barrels of oil, was discovered to hold the largest unconventional crude accumulation in the US.

Oil & Gas

Mercer Capital provides oil and gas companies, oil and gas servicers, and mineral & royalty owners with corporate valuation, asset valuation, litigation support, transaction advisory, and related services