Energy companies slash billions from budgets amid oil price drop

Eleven energy companies over the past several days said they would cut a combined $18.6 billion dollars from their budgets as oil prices remain near 20-year lows, setting the stage for tens of thousands additional layoffs.

West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $23.36 per barrel Monday, a price not seen since March 2002 as Russia and Saudi Arabia flood global markets and the coronavirus pandemic crushes demand.

Energy companies big and small — including Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil, Hess and Halliburton —have responded by slashing spending for new projects and operations, halting stock buy back programs, putting deals on hold and selling assets.

Two more of the world’s largest oil companies announced cutbacks on Monday.

Royal Dutch Shell, based in the Hague, said it would cut capital spending by $5 billion and operating costs by $3 billion to $4 billion. The company also said it is suspending a planned stock buyback worth $1 billion and will sell $10 billion in assets.

Shell’s capital spending budget stands at $20 billion for projects around the globe. The company has tens of thousands of acres of oil leases in the Permian Basin of West Texas and filed for 127 drilling permits in Texas in 2019.

“As well as protecting our staff and customers in this difficult time, we are also taking immediate steps to ensure the financial strength and resilience of our business,” Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said. “The combination of steeply falling oil demand and rapidly increasing supply may be unique, but Shell has weathered market volatility many times in the past.”

Also Monday, French oil major Total said it is slashing $3 billion in capital spending, cutting another $800 million in operating expenses and suspending a $2 billion stock buyback program.

Total has thousands of acres of natural gas leases in the Barnett Shale of North Texas and sought six drilling permits in the state in 2019.

Meanwhile, Midland oil company Diamondback Energy is cutting $1.2 billion of capital spending, reducing its 2020 budget for drilling and completing new wells to a range of $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion. The company said it would cut more if oil prices continue to fall.

Diamondback, the fourth most-active driller in Texas based on drilling permits, ordered its nine hydraulic fracturing crews to take a one-month break. After that break, the company expects to run just three to five crews, depending on oil prices, for the rest of the year.

Houston offshore oil company Talos Energy also pledged to cut $170 million from its budget while six pipeline companies said they would cut a combined $1.9 billion from their budgets.

Noble Midstream Partners, Rattler Midstream, Targa Resources, EnLink Midstream, Oneok and Pembina Pipeline made the budget cuts over the past two weeks — representing an overall 30 percent cut in planned capital expenditures for new pipeline and storage projects in 2020, according to a report from Houston energy investment banking firm Simmons Energy.

Canadian pipeline operator Pembina made the largest cuts of the six companies, slashing nearly $700 million, or 43 percent, of its nearly $1.6 billion budget. The company plans to spend nearly $900 million this year.

Houston oil-field service company NexTier Oilfield Solutions on Monday said it is cutting $110 million in capital spending. The company plans to idle more of its hydraulic fracturing fleet and reduce investments in innovation and new technology to focus on projects that directly reduce costs.

With oil prices poised to continue falling, experts say there will be more budget cuts ahead and that they could lead to layoffs.

So far, companies that drill and produce oil and natural gas have cut their budgets by a combined 30 percent, but James West of New York investment banking advisory firm Evercore, says that figure could rise to 40 percent in North America, where the shale industry requires higher oil prices to survive.

“This will not be evenly disbursed,” West said. “Operators from the Bakken, for example, are looking at 75 percent declines while the Permian Basin operators will be closer to 25 percent.”

There are 772 drilling rigs across the U.S., with more than half of them in the Permian Basin, according to the Baker Hughes Rig Count. That number could fall by 40 percent by the end of June, based on the budget cuts, Evercore said.

“Many rigs that are drilling today have been told that they will be relieved of service once their current wells are finished,” West said. “This is already leading to massive layoffs across the oil patch. We can also expect completion and pressure pumping activity to be cut in half.” sergio.chapa@chron.com twitter.com/sergiochapa