A weekly update on issues important to the oil and gas industry
As we have now put a bow on 2022 and have turned our attention to 2023, we suspect that the dreaded “R word” is on the mind of many of our readers as they contemplate the myriad challenges and obstacles their businesses will face in 2023. Now is the time to think critically about how your business is positioned for a potential economic slowdown. This post offers a few practical steps business owners, directors, and their advisors can take to ensure their business continues to thrive.
In this quarter’s newsletter, we focus on the Appalachian. Notable topics include Russia-Ukraine War’s effect on the demand for LNG exports to Europe in the face of winter, tight valuations between major operators, flat production levels in the region despite a high commodity price environment, as well as increased M&A activity in 2022 highlighted by Sitio Royalties and Brigham Minerals merger — creating the largest public minerals owner.
In this week’s post, we share a recent piece from our Family Business Director blog on the topic of Family Limited Partnerships. While the post speaks directly to family-owned businesses, the content is applicable to many because the individual estate tax exemption reverts to $6 million in 2026 from its current level of $12 million. As a result, many estates are beginning to plan now.
Three years ago, Bryce Erickson wrote an article about struggling Appalachian gas companies amid depressed valuations. They would still be struggling if that world had remained. It has not remained. A lot has changed since then, and the future looks very bright indeed.
The economics of Oil & Gas production vary by region. Mercer Capital focuses on trends in the Eagle Ford, Permian, Bakken, and Marcellus and Utica plays. The cost of producing oil and gas depends on the geological makeup of the reserve, depth of reserve, and cost to transport the raw crude to market. We can observe different costs in different regions depending on these factors. This quarter we take a closer look at the Marcellus and Utica shales.
M&A transaction activity in the Marcellus & Utica shales increased in 2022 relative to 2021, with large industry players motivated by free cash flow growth and creating shareholder value and less motivated by championing the ESG cause. In this week’s post, we examine the two largest transactions that occurred in but were not limited to the Marcellus and Utica shales in 2022.
In part 2 of this Q3 earnings calls series, we focus on key takeaways from Oilfield Service Companies such as the expanding role of international business segments, long-term sustainable growth, and E&P production growth plans.
This week, we focus on the key takeaways from the Q3 2022 Upstream earnings calls including the continued focus on share buybacks, moderate production growth, and how inflation is limiting that growth.
Mercer Capital has its finger on the pulse of the minerals market. An important trend has been the rise of mineral aggregators, which have largely supplanted the trusts as the primary method of publicly traded minerals ownership.
In this updated Study, Mercer Capital has thoughtfully analyzed the corporate and capital structures of the publicly traded mineral aggregators to derive meaningful indications of enterprise value. We have also calculated valuation multiples based on a variety of metrics, including distributions and reserves, as well as earnings and production on both a historical and forward-looking basis.
One of the key pieces of the Inflation Reduction Act was the “upsizing” of the 45Q tax credit from $50 to $85 per ton. This instantly bumps the value of carbon capture sequestration projects. However, there are still lots of issues and hurdles to overcome before getting off the ground.
