"Big Oil" executives have promised to increase capital to their core businesses during 2023. A new report from Goldman Sachs shows these statements are not just rhetoric.
Oil & Gas Boom 2021: Strong Prices, Record Revenues, Another Big Merger
The domestic oil and gas boom of 2021 continues into May, driven by strong crude oil prices that most analysts think will get stronger, recovering global demand, and by fiscal discipline being practiced by the big shale producers. This combination of factors holds the promise of a big, record-setting year for the U.S. oil and gas sector.
How big could it become? International business intelligence firm Rystad Energy projects it could be the biggest year yet for U.S. shale. The firm issued a report this week projecting that the sector’s aggregated pre-hedging revenues could reach a record $195 billion during 2021, surpassing the previous record of $191 billion set during the previous big boom in 2019.
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Forbes used the Enverus Daily Rig Count as one example: On Sept. 1, 2020, that metric showed the number of active drilling rigs in the United States was near its all-time low of roughly two hundred eighty but today, that figure has surged to four hundred sixty active and working rigs. That represents a whopping 67 percent increase in only half a year.
Moreover, the Primary Vision count of active U.S. frac spreads had recovered to one hundred seventy-five as of Feb. 12, more than doubling the eighty-five seen on August 28 last year. However, that plummeted to forty-one active spreads during the mid-February arctic freeze of Texas, Oklahoma, and other shale states. By Feb. 26, it bounced back up to 140.
The Next U.S. Oil And Gas Boom Suddenly Looms On The Horizon
The history of the oil and gas business in the United States is that every time the “experts” all line up to declare it to be dead, it finds a way to come roaring back. This scenario has played itself out at least half a dozen times across my own 42-year career in the business or writing about it.
Well, guess what:It appears to be happening again. I was about to say that it appears to be about to happen again, but the truth is that the domestic oil and gas industry has already staged a significant comeback from the depths of its COVID-19-induced depression last summer. Take the Enverus Daily Rig Count as an example: On September 1, 2020, that metric showed the number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. sat at just 276 rigs, depressingly near its all-time low. As of today, that number has risen to 460 active and working rigs, a 2/3rds increase in just six months.