Energy Shareholder Returns Hit Record Levels -- RBN Energy -- December 28, 2022

SRE: link here; and, here; press release;

• Germany's RWE will buy 2.25 million tons / year from Sempra's proposed Port Arthur plant, Texas, for 15 years
• US LNG export projects have made over 20 supply deals since June

ICYMI: MRO expands south Texas position with $3 billion-Ensign buy;
link here; Eagle Ford;

Marathon, which reported a jump in third quarter profit on Wednesday, said the Ensign acquisition would be immediately accretive to the company's financials, including boosting its projected free cash flow in 2023 by 15%. The company expects to raise its base dividend by an additional 11% after closing the purchase, which is expected by the end of this year.

****************************
Back to the Bakken

The Far Side: link here.

Active rigs: 45.

WTI:

Natural gas:

Thursday, December 29, 2022:
38956, conf, Ovintiv, Anderson Federal 152-96-9-4-13H,
38199, conf, Hess, EN-Rehak A-155-94-1423H-4,
37641, conf, Slawson, Genekat Federal 4-13-12TFH,

Wednesday, December 28, 2022: 72 for the month, 181 for the quarter, 726 for the year.
38954, conf, Ovintiv, Anderson Federal 152-96-9-4-5H,
37640, conf, Slawson, Genesis Federal 1 SLH, 

RBN Energy: shareholder returns reach record levels in 3Q22 as E&Ps cash generation remains strong.  Archived.

One of life’s vicarious pleasures is indulging in some daydreaming about what we’d do with a substantial financial windfall, maybe from a lottery win, a bequest from a long-lost relative, or a five-horse parlay. Thanks to a dramatic surge in post-pandemic commodity prices, U.S. E&Ps are living out that dream as 2022 cash flow from operating activities (CFOA) is on track to quadruple from 2020 lows and more than double from pre-pandemic levels. In allocating those funds, producers face the same kinds of decisions we would all face: ramping up current spending, whittling away at debt, tucking cash away for a rainy day, or distributing funds to family and friends. Possibly influenced by the upcoming holiday season, oil and gas producers turned extremely generous in the third quarter as shareholder returns reached record levels. In today’s RBN blog, we detail the cash-flow allocations made by the 42 publicly owned E&Ps we follow and speculate on future trends.

Let’s take a quick look at the largesse. The cash flowing into the coffers of the companies we track is on pace to exceed $160 billion, or $45 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) produced, this year. CFOA hasn’t exceeded $25/boe since 2014, when oil prices last topped $100/bbl. The estimated 2022 result is 25% higher than the $36/boe generated in 2014, 4x the $11/boe reported in 2020, and 125% more than the $20/boe in 2021. Most impressively, the total cash generated this year is estimated to be $15 billion higher than the total net debt of the 42 producers we track.