January 14, 2015
(Bloomberg) -- The first thing oilfield geophysicist Emmanuel Osakwe noticed when he arrived back at work before 8 a.m. last month after a short vacation was all the darkened offices.
By that time of morning, the West Houston building of his oilfield services company was usually bustling with workers. A couple hours later, after a surprise call from Human Resources, Osakwe was adding to the emptiness: one of thousands of energy industry workers getting their pink slips as crude prices have plunged to less than $50 a barrel.
“For the oil and gas industry, it’s scary,” Osakwe said in an interview after he was laid off last month from a unit of Halliburton Co., which he joined in September 2013. “I was blind to the ups and downs associated with the industry.”
It’s hard to blame him. The oil industry has been on a tear for most of the past decade, with just a brief timeout for the financial crisis. As of November, oil and gas companies employed 543,000 people across the U.S., a number that’s more than doubled from a decade ago, according to data kept by Rigzone, an employment company servicing the energy industry....
Regardless of all the happy talk about and in the petroleum industry, there is stark reality to face.
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil.
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment....
...Dudley said he did not expect companies would rush to emulate Shell's mega deal immediately but said that the longer oil prices stayed low the more companies would come under financial stress and become acquisition targets....
(Bloomberg) -- The first thing oilfield geophysicist Emmanuel Osakwe noticed when he arrived back at work before 8 a.m. last month after a short vacation was all the darkened offices.
By that time of morning, the West Houston building of his oilfield services company was usually bustling with workers. A couple hours later, after a surprise call from Human Resources, Osakwe was adding to the emptiness: one of thousands of energy industry workers getting their pink slips as crude prices have plunged to less than $50 a barrel.
“For the oil and gas industry, it’s scary,” Osakwe said in an interview after he was laid off last month from a unit of Halliburton Co., which he joined in September 2013. “I was blind to the ups and downs associated with the industry.”
It’s hard to blame him. The oil industry has been on a tear for most of the past decade, with just a brief timeout for the financial crisis. As of November, oil and gas companies employed 543,000 people across the U.S., a number that’s more than doubled from a decade ago, according to data kept by Rigzone, an employment company servicing the energy industry....
Regardless of all the happy talk about and in the petroleum industry, there is stark reality to face.
PARIS/LONDON,
April 16 (Reuters) - French oil major Total and British rival BP are
under no pressure to make acquisitions after the recent takeover of BG
Group by Anglo-Dutch rival Shell, they said on Thursday.
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil .
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment.
- See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/138144/Total_BP_Feel_No_Pressure_To_Make_Acquisitions_After_Shell#sthash.dKhMESk1.dpuf..
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil .
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment.
- See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/138144/Total_BP_Feel_No_Pressure_To_Make_Acquisitions_After_Shell#sthash.dKhMESk1.dpuf..
PARIS/LONDON,
April 16 (Reuters) - French oil major Total and British rival BP are
under no pressure to make acquisitions after the recent takeover of BG
Group by Anglo-Dutch rival Shell, they said on Thursday.
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil .
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment.
- See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/138144/Total_BP_Feel_No_Pressure_To_Make_Acquisitions_After_Shell#sthash.dKhMESk1.dpuf
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil .
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment.
- See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/138144/Total_BP_Feel_No_Pressure_To_Make_Acquisitions_After_Shell#sthash.dKhMESk1.dpuf
PARIS/LONDON,
April 16 (Reuters) - French oil major Total and British rival BP are
under no pressure to make acquisitions after the recent takeover of BG
Group by Anglo-Dutch rival Shell, they said on Thursday.
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil .
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment.
- See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/138144/Total_BP_Feel_No_Pressure_To_Make_Acquisitions_After_Shell#sthash.dKhMESk1.dpuf
PARIS/LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - French oil major Total (click here) and British rival BP are
under no pressure to make acquisitions after the recent takeover of BG
Group by Anglo-Dutch rival Shell, they said on Thursday.Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil .
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment.
- See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/138144/Total_BP_Feel_No_Pressure_To_Make_Acquisitions_After_Shell#sthash.dKhMESk1.dpuf
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buy BG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and close the gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil.
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executive said Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were other ways to grow in a falling oil price environment....
...Dudley said he did not expect companies would rush to emulate Shell's mega deal immediately but said that the longer oil prices stayed low the more companies would come under financial stress and become acquisition targets....
