3 important developments......2 minor ones and which should come to NO surpride & should have been expected and ONE major one which should be cause for concern.
The first one, a minor event which we all (well... for those perceptive few on here at least 8) knew was coming that directly affects Pipestone, is the cancellation/delay of the sib/ncib. This is probably the best move & news i've heard out of them in the last few months. The fact remains that you cannot initiate an horrible idea like a divvy payout or share buyback by sib/ncib or any other form in this dismal environment for low NG pricing. Esepcially in a cap ex heavy, cash sensitive industry like O&G exploration & production and/or for those heavily weighted towards NG. Just doesn't make sense and i fully expect others to take action as well by cutting their divvy or canceling their share buybacks. Pipe might be one the first ones to act, but they surely won't be the only ones.
The other minor event is Ovintiv making a move of their own (see news release below). Following in their own footsteps, on a path they put themselves years ago and on the heels of similar Baytex move, Ovintive has decided to increase their exposure in the highly sought after Permain basin (so much for oldlittlenaggers's idea & premise that the Permain sucks lol!!.... which that too should be of NO surprise lol).
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ovintiv-acquire-core-midland-basin-105400446.html
In conjuction with that move in the Permian, Ovintiv has also divested their assets in the Bakken, which comes a somewhat of a surprise to me. I thought the margins were quite high in those lucrative shale plays, especially in places like N. Dakota, but obviously that's not the case here & Ovintiv believes otherwise. This move FIRMLY cements Ovintiv's objectives & intenttions, and strongly beleive this will not be their only divestiture up North. This also more or less removes them from ANY further M&A possibilities in Canada as well.
Lastly, the "NOT" so surprising move of OPEC cutting production to boost the price. This is not surprising they did this, but the timing of it is. What should concern most folks here is not that OPEC did it, but it did in spite & in contradiction of the goals & objectives of the USA & the EU. Meaning they afre going AGAINST the wishes & agendas of the main Western powers and in SUPPORT of the wishes of Russia. This breakoff and disconnect between OPEC, specfically the Saudis, should be a big wake up call for the US Gov't of where their allegiance lies and the fragile status of their long standinfg friendsship/cooperations. Why should this concern everyone? Because while the US Gov't & EU try to manipulate the energy markets to bring down energy pricing, specfically NG, to save the EU from possiblle BK, the Saudis have elected to counter that AND go in the opposing direction AGAINST the will & wishes of the Americans!!!
It will be very interesting to see how this developes further and IF there's ANY retaliation from the US Gov't for this move by OPEC. I always said that oil prices would not revisit $100 again UNLESS there was another blackswan event OR a major escalation of the Russian-Ukranian conflict. Well, it seems BOTH might actually become a reality and MIGHT come to fruition at the same time. If there's a further deterioration in Saudi-US relations, i would see this a major blackswan event along with the very strong possbility that Putin also uses tactical nukes. Of which i hinted it is a STRONG possbility if the the US & Europe continue to push Putin in a corner.
That's it for now,.......i'm off to get more popcorn...........
GTLA
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