As ESG (environmental, social and governance) and energy-transition-related concerns have caused most large and midsize banks to exit the oil and gas industry, local lenders like Midland’s Community National Bank and Odessa-based Southwest Bank have benefited by seeing some of those customers come their way. On the borrower side, Northern Oil and Gas has funded […]
Banking on the Basin
It’s clear that the Pandemic has loomed over just about everything since 2020, but even before that the oil patch’s financial model had begun to change. Jeremy Bishop, president of Midland’s First Capital Bank of Texas, noted that equity financiers have changed their model from what he called a “build and flip” to an operate-within-cash-flow […]
It Comes at a Premium
For many companies in the Oil Patch—producers or service companies—insurance is one of the top expenses, especially when the reckoning includes health policies—and premiums for that coverage are rising quickly. But the protection from loss and liability provided by insurance is important, and for many service companies it’s required by most Master Service Agreements (MSAs). […]
The Permian in Perspective: A Q&A with Jason Reimbold
An energy lending institution since 1910, BOK Financial (it derives its current name from its earlier name, Bank of Oklahoma) maintains offices in Houston, Denver, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Dallas, and invests more of its portfolio in Permian Basin projects than in any other basin. Jason Reimbold, Managing Director of Energy Investment Banking at BOK […]
Key Drivers in 2021
The pandemic of 2020 was undeniably a choke point for investment into the oil and gas industry. Reduced travel, and a general hesitation to invest in anything other than masks and toilet paper, coincided with a rise in ESG concerns to block the door to any significant investment in the sector. But, said Jack Herndon, […]
Changing with the Times
The decade of 2010 opened to a “black gold rush” built upon horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, drawing in a flood of investment money of all kinds. Investors dreamed of funding an unlimited Christmas list for producers and service companies alike, asking only that the list be used to expand the company so it could […]
Where Will Crude Prices Go From Here?
Two competing narratives dominate the talk today where crude oil prospects are concerned. There is the break-your-spirits pessimism parroted by the Covid-crisis crowd, beating their drumbeat of disaster. For them, the lockdowns ought be locked in a year or more at a crack. Then there is the bullishness of the glass-half-full crowd, finding positivity in […]
“Buy American”
Well, at the writing of this article things are looking much better than over the last two months, as many states are “opening up” and the Covid-19 statistics are not changing dramatically. It appears the worst of the pandemic is behind us. We’ve survived a lot. We’ve survived weeks of full quarantine. We’ve survived negative […]
Mergers and acquisitions decline 68 percent in Texas in 2020Q2
Texas Lawbook said the 89 mergers, acquisitions and joint venture transactions completed by Texas companies in 2020Q2 represented a decline of 68 percent from 2019Q2 as activity in the state reached historic lows. Texas Lawbook, with data from Mergermarket, said the value of the transactions dropped 93.7 percent. The 89 deals were the fewest in […]
Chronicle: Federal loans save 93,117 oil and gas industry jobs in Texas
An analysis of data from U.S. Small Business Administration by Houston Chronicle shows that more than $1 billion in forgivable loans for Texas companies in the federal government’s pandemic relief program saved more than half of the state’s oil and gas industry jobs. The federal government issued 6,610 loans to crude oil and natural gas […]