What is up with all of the foreign oil companies doing business in America. Does no one see the conflict of interest. I am tired of seeing it. Everyday it's another one. Today it's Korea. What the heck is tomorrow. Are our companies bankrupt and need their money. Let them explore and drill on their own soil.
Native, I agree. I think it's a bad idea to allow foreign investors to gain control of our energy sources, so essentially they buy it wholesale and sell it back to us retail and it never leaves the country. Sounds absolutely brilliant to me.
Only in America.
I agree as well, something doesn't seem right about these foreign JVs and acquisitions. I figure they win by securing US natgas but in addition, they get the technology to use in their countries. I also think the US shale deals are the new business driver, especially for CHK, but I think these companies can't pass up the $billions and future drilling funds. I think we are cutting off our energy source nose to spite our face (from the US perspective).
But look what the power player gascos are doing; they are sweeping into shale plays and aggressively securing leased acreage at unprecedented rates. Why? natgas prices at 10 year lows. yes a move to liquid exploration. But actually to score a couple wells, secure a large acreage portfolio, hype the play and then sell into a JV. This is a dominant business tactic these days.
I predict that 2012 unconventional shale play M&A activity will exceed previous years
About the time the US moves into a natgas infrastructure, we'll be buying "our" natgas from some other countries for inflated prices.
Well that is cynical, but the US does need to be cautious about all the foreign investment I would think. Especially now that Obama is announcing a natgas energy plan along the Picken's plan.
Wilson
I agree with everyone on this topic as it bothers me to see the foreign investors enter our energy picture. Further, it worries me that the foreign investors have glutted the other sectors to our country such as the retail markets. Look at what you are wearing and see how many clothing items say "USA" on the label. Bet that's going to be few and far between. In conclusion, I predict that we will see more of the foreign investor money enter into our energy picture this year and possibly as long as oil remains at around $100/bbl or more.
Hi Charles,
Does anyone in this forum really think foreign oil investors is a new thing? It has been going on for decades. BP is certainly not domestic, and there are several others. BP has stations all over the USA, and has had for a long time. I don't remember the others offhand, but think of this. Is there a lot of difference in foreign investors in our oil and so called domestic companies that buy their oil from outside the USA. I will try to find my graph showing what percent of each company's oil comes from overseas. You'll be surprised at the very least.
Yours,
Wes Luke
I also agree. If you were to take a drive in western ND at night, you would be astonished to see how many foreigners are cruising around, checking out their investments. MacQuarie Bank out of Austrailia is financing most of the drilling operations there also. All they need is the leaseholds, and then they mortgage the minerals. A company that does not have a lease with me, has my mineral interest mortgaged with MacQuarie...There are dirty games being played on mineral owners around the country, and the MO need to be informed of their tactics!!!
Wes, perhaps we (the US) need to take note and learn from the oil industry history. So what we see today is our heavy reliance on foreign oil. and ironically, that even applies to a lot of the US oil production!
I was speaking to unconventional gas (and oil) exploration. Due to the substantial discoveries in the US, we have an opportunity (Pickens Plan) to move away from foreign oil dependence by establishing a stronger Natgas infrastructure.
Yet, foreign investment in shale exploration is becoming substantial and has grown enormously from essentially nothing only a few years ago.
Take a look at this information, I posted elsewhere a couple weeks ago:
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Interesting read about gasco Mergers and Acquisitions (1/13/12 article). Huge growth in unconventional plays while conventional is flat if not declining somewhat.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/record-86-billion-in-2011-us-oil-and-gas-upstream-deals-2012-01-13?reflink=MW_news_stmp
Key Excerpts:
United States M&A activity for upstream oil and gas deals set records in 2011 for both deal values and deal counts. Totals for 2011 are $86 billion (versus prior 2010 record of $75 billion) in 369 deals (versus prior 2010 record of 313 deals).
"Industry appetite for oil-rich resource plays, particularly the North Dakota Bakken shale, Texas Eagle Ford shale and Ohio Utica shale, drove deal activity in the unconventional sector to a record $62 billion.
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A lot more info of interest in the article.
Wilson