OIL
How Big Oil’s M&A targets have changed
Simon Flowers, Wood Mackenzie, July 24, 2020
No one has experienced an M&A market as bad as this. The collapse in oil and gas prices and Covid-19 killed deal activity, with 2020 so far recording the smallest number of deals in any month, any quarter and any half-year. There was no transaction in H1 over US$1 billion, the first time this has happened in a six-month period since our records began early this century. The monthly average spend on deals has been just 5% of the run rate of the last 15 years.
Chevron’s US$13 billion bid for Noble Energy is a welcome sign that things may be starting to get back to normal.
GAS
Russia Overtakes U.S. In LNG Exports To China
Irina Slav, OILPRICE.COM, July 27, 2020
Russia exported more LNG to China in June than the United States did, at 396,000 tons versus 340,000 tons, Russia’s Sputnik reports, citing data first quoted by Bloomberg. According to the data, from Chinese customs authorities, Russia LNG imports were 20.7 percent higher than a month earlier, while U.S. imports of LNG were just 2.4 percent higher. Separately, Natural Gas World reported that China’s liquefied natural gas imports in June were 29 percent higher than a year ago, at 5.79 million tons. January to June imports of LNG were also higher. The data refutes earlier reports suggesting that China’s LNG imports in June were down 7 percent on the year as the heating season ended, reducing demand. China recently became the largest LNG importer in the world, turning into a battleground for producers amid tanking prices driven by an oversupply similar in gravity to the oversupply in crude oil markets.
MINING
COVID slows mineral plans in NANA region
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, July 24, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has led NANA Corp. and its mining partners, Teck Resources Ltd. and Ambler Metals LLC, to adjust their mineral exploration and mine development plans in order to meet the ever-evolving health and safety mandates to keep shareholders, employees and residents of Northwest Alaska as safe as possible. “Although the pandemic was unexpected, learning to adapt is nothing new for the region and Iñupiaq people. For 40 years, NANA shareholders have supported responsible resource development, even during times of uncertainty,” NANA inked in a July 17 mining update.
POLITICS
Almost 100 Days Out, Democrats Are Favored to Take Back the Senate
Jessica Taylor, Cook Political Report, July 23, 2020
With just over 100 days until Election Day, the political climate appears dire for Republicans across the board. President Trump is the decided underdog against former Vice President Joe Biden in our Electoral College ratings and Democrats could end up expanding their House majority. That leaves the Senate as Republicans’ firewall—the final barrier to unified control for Democrats in 2021. While GOP incumbents are trying to run races independent of the president, if Trump’s polling numbers remain this dismal come November, that’s an unenviable and likely unsuccessful strategy, according to several top party strategists. As of now, Democrats are a slight favorite to win the Senate majority.