June Newsletter

Our June newsletter is here! Keep reading to see what we're excited about this month!

ConocoPhillips to buy Marathon Oil in $22.5 billion deal as energy mergers roll on

ConocoPhillips agreed to buy Marathon Oil in a $22.5 billion deal, the latest in a series of mega-mergers in the oil and gas industry as companies look to bolster reserves.

The U.S. oil and gas industry has been riding a consolidation wave over the last two years. Last year was one of the most active, where M&A deals worth $250 billion were struck. The momentum has carried over into this year as the stock market continues to boom and as U.S. oil production scales new records.

Read more: Reuters

New endangered listing for rare lizard could slow oil and gas drilling in New Mexico and West Texas

Federal wildlife officials declared a rare lizard in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas an endangered species Friday, citing future energy development, sand mining and climate change as the biggest threats to its survival in one of the world’s most lucrative oil and natural gas basins.

Read more: AP News

Companies aim to release more treated oilfield wastewater into rivers and streams

These days the Pecos River barely fills its dry, sandy bed where it crosses West Texas, but the river could be poised to flow again — with treated oilfield wastewater.

Companies are racing to figure out what to do with the tremendous volume of noxious water that comes up from underground during oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin, but a growing cohort of companies say they’ve developed a means to purify that fluid and release it in the Pecos and other watersheds.

Read more: OAOA

Lawmakers give Oklahoma oil and gas industry $50 million in budget agreement

It could be Christmas in July for the Oklahoma oil and gas industry as it secured $50 million under a tax rebate program for methane-reduction equipment upgrades in a budget agreement struck last week by Republican legislative leaders.

Read more: The Oklahoman

A Virus Could Help Save Billions of Gallons of Wastewater Produced by Fracking

An estimated 168 billion gallons of wastewater — or produced water — is generated annually by the Permian Basin fracking industry, according to a 2022 report by the Texas Produced Water Consortium. The major waste stream has proved both difficult and costly to treat because of the chemical complexity of the water.

In a new study published in the journal Water, researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have identified a novel means of treating the wastewater generated by oil and gas production: bacteriophages.

Read more: News Wise

Record hurricane season could hurt oil and gas production

With a record number of hurricanes expected to barrel through the Atlantic Ocean this year, the oil and natural gas industry is particularly at risk, according to new analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Read more: Marketplace

Global oil markets weaken as sluggish demand leaves overhang

Global physical crude oil markets are weakening because of soft refinery demand and ample supply, traders and analysts told Reuters, in a move that could spell further weakness for benchmark crude futures.

The weakness indicates high interest rates and inflation are depressing consumer and industrial demand, especially in Europe, at a time when supply is rising from non-OPEC producers such as the United States.

Read more: Reuters

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