.The Texas Energy Report

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.The Texas Energy Report

Texas Drilling Permits and Completions Statistics for July 2020: RRC

August 8, 2020

AUSTIN –– The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 351 original drilling permits in July 2020 compared to 912 in July 2019. The July 2020 total includes 286 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, six to re-enter plugged well bores and 40 for re-completions of existing well bores.

The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in July 2020 is 70 oil, 27 gas, 232 oil or gas, 9 injection, and 13 other permits.

In July 2020, Commission staff processed 1,125 oil, 211 gas and 367 injection completions for new drills, re-entries and re-completions, compared to 499 oil, 156 gas, and 44 injection completions in July 2019.

Total well completions processed for 2020 year to date for new drills, re-entries and re-completions are 9,510 compared to 5,749 recorded during the same period in 2019…..
 

Moody’s Downgrades AEP, AEP Texas, OK PSO and Ohio OPCo Senior Unsecured Notes, But Secure Outlook

“Weakened financial profiles…large capital programs…increased use of leverage.” Yet AEP reported strong 2Q growth earlier on Thursday.

 

August 7, 2020

Moody’s Investors Service said on Thursday it’s downgraded the long-term ratings of American Electric Power Company, Inc. senior unsecured down to to Baa2 from Baa1 and subsidiary AEP Texas Inc., with senior unsecured down to Baa2 from Baa1.

Moody’s also said it downgraded Ohio Power Company (OPCo) senior unsecured to A3 from A2, and Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) senior unsecured to Baa1 from A3.

At the same time, Moody’s revised the outlooks for AEP, AEP Texas, OPCo and PSO to stable from negative.

AEP earlier on Thursday had reported strong second-quarter 2020 GAAP earnings of $1.05 per share; second-quarter 2020 operating earnings of $1.08 per share and reaffirmed 2020 operating earnings (non-GAAP) guidance range of $4.25 to $4.45 per share and 5% to 7% long-term growth rate…….
 

TXOGA Statement on Railroad Commission Actions to End Routine Flaring

August 5, 2020

“The data provided by the Railroad Commission confirms that both industry and regulators are continuing to make great strides on environmental progress. The rate of flaring being reduced by 79% is highly significant when you consider, at minimum, more than one-third of the reduction came before the curtailment of production in response to the pandemic. The focus on implementing a greater use of technology will continue to spur innovation which is a hallmark of this industry. I appreciate the Commissioners’ leadership and the member companies who participate in the Texas Methane & Flaring Coalition. The Coalition looks forward to reviewing the proposal and remains committed to its goal of ending routine flaring in Texas.”….
 

Economic Contraction Hits Petroleum Companies Hard

By Alex Mills

 

August 6, 2020

Financial analysts within the petroleum industry suspected that the news was going to be bad, but the severity of the downturn has been overwhelming.

The financial performance of the upstream oil and gas producing companies during the first half of 2020 was at record lows. Even the large integrated companies announced recently second quarter losses. It is unusual that the major oil companies all report losses. ExxonMobil reported a loss of $1.1 billion, Chevron $8.3 billion and BP $17.7 billion.

Others reporting this week were Diamondback Energy, based in Midland, stating a loss of $2.39 billion, Continental Resources, based in Oklahoma City, announcing $239 million loss, offshore producers Noble Corp. and Fieldwood filing for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11.

Overall, 23 North American petroleum companies, with some $30 billion in debt, have filed for bankruptcy this year, according to the law firm of Haynes and Boone….
 

How Utility Customers Will Pay for the Pandemic

By Andrew G. Campbell, Energy Institute at Haas

 

August 4, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown public finances into turmoil. Legislators and city councils are wrestling with what services to cut—health care, education, public safety. They’re also starting to look at what taxes to increase. Universities and many private sector industries are facing similar fiscal crises. Meanwhile, regulated electric utilities are in pretty good financial shape, but this isn’t because their businesses have been insulated from the pandemic.

Utilities have had to adopt more expensive operational practices to keep workers safe, more customers aren’t able to pay their bills, and electricity sales have dropped. The Energy Information Administration projects that electricity consumption will drop by 4% from 2019 to 2020. That would be the biggest annual percentage drop in electricity sales in over 20 years. The commercial sector demand is forecasted to drop 7%.

In the face of such significant challenges, you might expect public utilities commissions and utility corporate board rooms to mirror legislatures with tough decisions being made that trade off customer costs, reliability, safety and company profits. But that’s not the case. Utilities can continue spending in the face of lost revenues with confidence that they’ll be able to charge customers for the losses in the near-future….