The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling -- Oh, Never Mind -- September 19, 2018

Countless contributors over at SeekingAlpha have highlighted all the debt global energy companies are accumulating. Those paying attention to the story are probably watching a different movie, especially if they have been reading corporate presentations.

Oilprice is reporting "oil companies slash debt to pre-crash levels." Data points:

• global energy companies reduced their debt for seven consecutive quarters, through 2Q18
• the energy companies have cut their long-term debt-to-equity ratio to the lowest ratio since 3Q14
• data source: the EIA
• free cash flow: $119 billion for the four quarters ending June 30, 2018
• this was the largest sum in the 2013 to 2018 period
• in addition, cash from operations was $118 billion, up by 27% compared to 2Q17 -- just one year earlier
• free cash flow increased even as CAPEX increased year-on-year by $70 billion
• the return on equity (ROE) was the highest since 3Q14