A Wall Street Transcript Interview with Pavel Molchanov, Expert Analyst from Raymond James & Associates, Inc.: Large-Cap Oil and Gas Producers Aim to Balance Capital Spending and Free Cash Flow
67 WALL STREET, New York - July 10, 2014 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Oil & Gas Review 2014 Report for serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Oil & Gas Review 2014
Companies include: Chevron Corp. (CVX), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Occidental Petroleum Corporati (OXY), Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG), Total SA (TOT), BP plc (BP), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), Apache Corp. (APA), Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO), ConocoPhillips (COP), Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) and many others.
In the following excerpt from the Oil & Gas Review 2014 Report, an expert analyst discusses the outlook for the sector for investors:
TWST: With all these uncertainties, is that adding fuel to the fire in terms of development in the U.S.?
Mr. Molchanov: The fact that oil prices have been elevated by the Middle Eastern supply disruptions clearly helps improve the economics for the Bakken and the Eagle Ford shale and the Permian Basin. That goes without saying. Even without these Middle Eastern disruptions, oil prices would probably be high enough for drilling to continue in these shale plays, but everything else being equal, insofar as the oil market has been tightened by these geopolitical disruptions, of course it helps improve economics for oil producers not just in North America, but in Brazil and in Russia and in other regions.
TWST: As the industry looks out over the next couple of years, where is discovery money going? Where are they focusing?
Mr. Molchanov: In addition to the visible production growth curve in U.S. unconventional plays, the Canadian oil sands and the Brazilian deepwater growth curve, there are a number of countries where early-stage exploration is taking place. This is what we call frontier exploration, in other words exploration in countries that have little to no oil production today.
I think a good example of a country that was until recently in the frontier exploration category is Ghana. Until 2010, Ghana produced essentially zero oil, and since then it has become a relatively sizable oil producer with about 100,000 barrels a day of supply, and that's coming from just one field, called Jubilee. And because of the success that several companies have had in Ghana, the industry has started looking at other early-stage frontier opportunities elsewhere in West Africa, for example Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Republic of Guinea.
Another example is the Falkland Islands, which Argentina and Britain fought the war over in 1982. At the time no one knew of any oil there, but in recent years oil has been discovered offshore the Falkland Islands. The Argentineans are not too happy, suffice it to say, but for the Falkland Islanders and for the companies that are drilling there, this is potentially a windfall...
For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
