#wildcatter-oil

#wildcatter-oil

"We just have not kept up with water supply and water infrastructure like we should have. And it's decades in the making," said Peter Zanoni, the city manager since 2019.

Corpus Christi's two main reservoirs are just 8.4 percent full, while the backup reservoir is 55 percent full. Without drastic cuts, the water supply could run dry by early next year.

These sagebrush-covered foothills of primarily Bureau of Land Management land have a higher concentration of sage grouse than anywhere else on the planet, likely in part because the birds have room to move. More than a thousand elk winter there, too, sustained by the high-elevation landscape's cured grasses, dried wildflowers and shrubs. So do pronghorn and mule deer, wintering or using the area as a stopover on their journeys, which include the longest documented mule deer and pronghorn migrations in the Lower 48.

The market remains highly sensitive to developments in the Middle East, where elevated geopolitical tensions continue to expose energy infrastructure and shipping routes to significant risks. Supply conditions have already tightened, as production in parts of the region has been curtailed due to limited storage capacity and difficulties in exporting crude amid shipping constraints.

The Iranian military's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran has sent energy markets into turmoil. A quarter of the world's natural gas, a fifth of its crude oil, and tons of critical materials for fertilizers and other petroleum products pass through this strategic Persian Gulf waterway.

KeyBanc's revised oil deck reflects a materially stronger crude environment than previously modeled, with dislocations in global crude and refined products expected to persist into summer.

Citi's upgrade reflects a broader geopolitical reality reshaping global energy markets. The Iran war is accelerating the flight of European and Asian buyers toward secure, long-term U.S. LNG supply contracts.

U.S. shale producer Devon Energy will acquire Coterra Energy for nearly $26 billion in a combination that creates a domestic oil and gas juggernaut trailing only household names Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips in sheer production volumes, the companies announced Feb. 2. After a couple of years of rapid consolidation in the energy sector, dealmaking slowed down dramatically last year as oil prices fell when OPEC ramped up its output and the Trump administration implemented a series of tariffs worldwide.

But one key voice was missing from the celebration: Texas GulfLink's developer. Dallas-based Sentinel Midstream declined to comment on the administration's announcement, and didn't issue any press release for its politically ballyhooed project approval. Sentinel's silence was a symptom of a bigger disconnect in the gulf.What once was a race to build a series of deepwater terminals prior to the pandemic-including the involvement of household names such as Phillips 66 and Chevron-has now turned into silence over stalled projects that may never come to fruition.

In FY2025, Chord delivered oil volumes that exceeded original guidance by more than 1,000 barrels per day while capital came in approximately $60 million lower. Full-year CapEx landed more than $100 million below pro forma FY24, with oil volumes 1% higher year over year, and the company generated approximately $160 million in incremental run-rate free cash flow through continuous improvement.

"Venezuela has those challenges that I mentioned, which I believe in time will get addressed,"

The death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026, per NPR reporting, sent immediate shockwaves through energy markets. WTI crude climbed from $61.60 on February 2 to $71.13 by March 2, and prediction markets now assign 97% probability to crude reaching $75 by end of March, with 81% confidence in a move to $80.

WTI has recorded two consecutive recovery sessions, reclaiming the USD 60 per barrel level and touching around USD 60.5. This move suggests that short-term selling pressure has eased somewhat after the previous corrective phase. However, to properly assess the nature of this rebound, it is necessary to clearly examine both the supporting factors behind prices and the risks that still persist in the near term.

Unlike funds that hold integrated giants with refining and chemical businesses to cushion oil price swings, XOP holds pure exploration and production companies whose entire revenue stream rises and falls with the commodity price. Its equal-weight structure amplifies this further, giving the same portfolio weight to smaller, more volatile E&P names as it does to large-caps like ConocoPhillips or Occidental Petroleum.

The company's record production jumped 12% year-over-year, driven by the Hess acquisition, which added 261 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. CEO Mike Wirth called it a "significant achievement...integrated Hess, started-up major projects, delivered record production." Chevron's integrated model spans upstream production, refining, chemicals, and emerging energy ventures, including lithium and hydrogen projects. The company returned $12.1 billion in share buybacks for the year and raised its dividend 4% to $1.78 per share.

ConocoPhillips reported disappointing fourth-quarter results on February 5, 2026, missing both earnings and revenue estimates as lower oil prices overshadowed production gains from the Marathon Oil acquisition. The Houston-based energy producer posted adjusted EPS of $1.02, falling short of the $1.12 consensus estimate by 9%. Revenue of $14.19 billion also missed expectations of $14.34 billion. Net income tumbled to $1.44 billion from $2.30 billion in the year-ago quarter, a 37.3% decline driven primarily by weaker commodity prices.