March 30, 2017

Active rigs:

	3/30/2017	03/30/2016	03/30/2015	03/30/2014	03/30/2013
Active Rigs	49	31	96	194	188

RBN Energy: Anadarko "piranha-izes" its portfolio to fund intense oil-weighted output growth.

Predictions of industry doom from the oil price collapse that started in mid-2014 turned out to be largely wrong. Most of the upstream industry has weathered the crisis remarkably well, primarily through the “high-grading” of portfolios, impressive capital discipline, and an intense focus on operational efficiencies.

And, in vivid contrast to mega-deals, this cycle has been characterized instead by hundreds—if not thousands—of small transactions. E&Ps are concentrating their assets, and building out significant contiguous acreage positions in their core operating areas while generating funds for operations and acquisitions through equity offerings, debt refinancings, and sales of non-core assets. The strongest and most aggressive of the U.S. E&Ps have been behaving like schools of piranha, eating away at small pieces of other companies and simultaneously fragmenting and reconstituting the E&P sector, with most successful companies focusing their resources, operations and investments on a few attractive plays where an advantageous combination of geology, geography and economics provide attractive investment returns.

Scottt Adams: the systems president.