OIL
From the Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy:
GET OUT OF SHALE FREE CARD: Oil field services company Schlumberger on Tuesday announced it is selling its shale fracking business in the U.S. to a smaller rival company, Liberty Oilfield Services.
The move signals the uncertain recovery for U.S. shale. Oil service companies were among the hardest hit in the price crash and generally require a higher break-even crude price.
Schlumberger has previously announced plans to cut more than 21,000 jobs. It said its fracking unit suffered a 40% decline in revenue during the 2nd quarter.
Dan Eberhart, CEO of the oil services company Canary, called the transaction a “grand slam” for Liberty that “undoubtedly raises the company to the major leagues.”
He told Josh that Schlumberger’s decision to mitigate its exposure to U.S. shale “shows that the smartest minds in the business are very, very concerned about their ability to deliver profits thru the cycles.”
GAS
Demand for jet fuel in the U.S. is recovering faster than in many other markets
Oil & Gas 360, September 2, 2020
U.S. jet fuel consumption has been particularly affected by responses to the 2019 novel coronavirus. However, analysis of flight-level data provided by Cirium on commercial passenger flights—a category of aircraft that the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates accounted for 73% of total U.S. jet fuel consumption in January 2020—suggests that demand for jet fuel in the United States has, so far, recovered faster than in many other major aviation markets.
MINING
Robot dog may be the next ‘hit’ tool for miners
Mining.Com, September 2, 2020
Geospatial technology company Carlson Software and Ghost Robotics announced that they have partnered to bring to life an all-terrain robotic dog capable of navigating and performing underground and surface scans. In a press release, the companies said they have already completed a successful test using two of their respective systems. In detail, Carlson’s Void Scanner+ (VS+) was mounted to Ghost’s Vision 60 quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicle (Q-UGV) and remotely operated to conduct scans throughout an underground tunnel.
POLITICS
Republicans spend big in Alaska — against Republicans
Reid Wilson, The Hill, September 2, 2020
Alaska voters ousted five members of the state House of Representatives in Republican primaries last month after national groups dropped about $200,000 in spending against several incumbents from their own party. The outside spending from established Republican groups against their own incumbents would be unusual in most states. But nothing is unusual in Alaska’s unique brand of politics, in a state where coalitions have controlled either the House or Senate for the majority of the past decade and where voters elected an independent governor in 2014. The 2018 midterm elections handed Republicans a clear majority in both the state Senate, where they control 13 of 20 seats, and the state House, where they won 23 of 40 seats.