The value of U.S. shale assets is expected to fall by $300 billion this year because of the oil bust and economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study.
Oil and gas companies have started to write down the value of their assets after crude prices cratered, falling to a record low minus $37 a barrel before climbing back above $40 a barrel this week. Exxon Mobil wrote down $3 billion of its assets and Occidental Petroleum wrote down $1.4 billion of its assets during the first quarter.
The energy industry should expect “significant impairments” during the second quarter, rivaling that of the last oil bust, according to a Deloitte study published this week. BP earlier this month warned shareholders it will write down up to $17.5 billion of its assets during the second quarter, when coronavirus-related travel restrictions plunged demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
The result of writing down $300 billion of assets is that the industry’s average debt ratio has jumped to 54 percent, up from 40 percent before the pandemic, raising the risk of bankruptcies and corporate restructuring, Deloitte said.
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“One may argue against reading too much into this “noncash” impairment figure of companies,” Deloitte said in the report. “Yes, it is just an accounting adjustment. But it translates into writing off the invested shareholder’s equity and carrying a debt that may have been taken to develop or acquire the impaired asset.”
The U.S. shale industry was already losing money prior to the pandemic, running up debt to drill new wells and maintain production levels. The industry now faces low oil prices and reduced demand, which Deloitte said will lead to a period of “great compression” where energy companies face another wave of consolidations.
“The history of oil and gas is filled with periods of extensive consolidation. Following a 15-year boom, the U.S. shale segment appears to be next,” Duane Dickson, Deloitte’s vice chairman overseeing the firm’s oil, gas and chemicals consulting, said in a statement. “As COVID-19 impacts amplify pressures on shale companies through 2020, a wave of impairments may prompt the deepest consolidation the industry has ever seen over the next six to 12 months.
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June 24, 2020 at 11:24PM
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Study: U.S. shale assets expected to lose $300B in value - Houston Chronicle
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