The Market And Energy Page, Part 2, T+11 -- February 1, 2018; Another Huge Oil Discovery In The Gulf; Mike Filloon Updates The Niobrara

COP: by the way, a huge "thank you" to a reader -- I missed it. I had not seen that COP increased its dividend. Whoo-hoo! Meets forecasts. Income of $1.58 billion vs a loss the same quarter one year ago. EPS of 45 cents were right in line. Press release: ConocoPhillips reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 results; increases quarterly dividend by 7.5 percent and planned 2018 share repurchases to $2 billion; announces preliminary 2017 year-end reserves and bolt-on transaction in Alaska.

Peak oil? What peak oil? I assume this is a different "major" oil discovery than the one reported earlier today. From a press release:

Shell oday announced one of its largest U.S. Gulf of Mexico exploration finds in the past decade from the Whale deep-water well. The well encountered more than 1,400 net feet (427 meters) of oil bearing pay. Evaluation of the discovery is ongoing, and appraisal drilling is underway to further delineate the discovery and define development options.

"Deep water is an important growth priority as we reshape Shell into a world-class investment case," said Andy Brown, Upstream Director for Royal Dutch Shell. "Today's announcement shows how, through exploration, we are sustaining a strong pipeline of discoveries and future projects to sustain this deep-water growth."

Whale is operated by Shell (60%) and co-owned by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (40%). It was discovered in the Alaminos Canyon Block 772, adjacent to the Shell-operated Silvertip field and approximately 10-miles from the Shell-operated Perdido platform. 

And, look at the thickness of this play: more than 1,400 net feet. Compare that to the earlier story being reported by Chevron: 670 net feet of play.

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Niobrara Update

FWIW, Mike Filloon updates the Niobrara over at SeekingAlpha.