Why We're Investing in the Energy Sector

Oil prices and energy stocks have suffered of late as the price of oil softens. Over the past several months we have been taking positions in the energy space and at current levels are thinking about buying more.

Supply – Demand Dynamics

The demand side of the equation looks unappealing with the Chinese and U.S. economies under pressure and the threat of global economic stagnation. Saudi Arabia is signaling to OPEC members and the world that it is not reducing production in the face of a perceived slowing of demand and is in fact raising production to meet its forecast of increased demand in 2016. “The world’s biggest oil exporter pumped 10.564 million barrels a day in June, exceeding a previous record set in 1980, according to data the kingdom submitted to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The group sees “a more balanced market” in 2016 as demand for its crude strengths and supply elsewhere falters.” (Emphasis added).

The statement shows that the Saudis are expecting the pricing war in oil to continue into the next year and common sense dictates that certainly will not be good for oil prices going forward. They expect 2016 global demand of 1.34 million barrels per day, up from 1.28 million this year and cite strength from emerging markets as the likely source of end demand.

Unfortunately the increased demand thesis is not shared by others in the industry. According to OilPrice.com, “The news from the IEA is not good. “World oil demand growth appears to have peaked in 1Q15 at 1.8 mb/d and will continue to ease throughout the rest of this year and into next as temporary support fades.” I don’t have great faith in forecasts but the data shows declining demand growth from late 2010 to the 2nd quarter of this year (Figure 1). The weak global economy is the cause of low demand growth. The current debt crisis Greece and collapsing stock markets in China are the latest alarm signals. Today, the IMF lowered its world economic growth outlook because of these problems. “We have entered a period of low growth.” —IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard. IEA data shows that world liquids production increased 1.1 mmbpd compared with the 1st quarter of 2015, and demand fell by 410 kbpd (Figure 2). Half of the production increase occurred in June 2015. The production surplus (supply minus demand) that is responsible for low oil prices continues to increase (Figure 3).”

U.S. inventories also remain a problem. According to recent data from the EIA (via Business Insider), “The latest data from the Energy Information Administration showed a fall in stockpiles by 4.3 million barrels in the week ending July 10. This brought the total number of barrels to 461.4 million, maintaining them at a level not seen in the last 80 years.”

The supply – demand dynamic appears to have glaring negative obstacles to overcome but yet there are additional headwinds on the horizon.

Iranian Oil

The Obama Administration has concluded the preliminary stages on an Iranian agreement that opens the availability of Iranian oil to the market in return for a nuclear arms deal. The announcement of the deal had an immediate negative impact to crude prices but oddly enough the price for the commodity quickly rebounded and ended up rallying from those levels as market experts digested the data and formulated their own supply – demand dynamics with the input of new data.  Of course the deal is not completed until it is reviewed and approved by UN Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency and Congress, but for now let’s assume this deal is primed to go through successfully.

Upon the announcement of the deal, OilPrice.com stated, “Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran’s oil minister, said during the OPEC meeting in Vienna on June 5 that his country will move quickly to restore its status as a major oil exporter once the deal is signed, beginning with an export increase of 400,000 barrels per day and adding 600,000 more barrels per day within six months. And just after the deal with Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany on July 14, Zanganeh tweaked that forecast, saying Iran would begin by exporting 500,000 barrels a day, an amount that would grow by an additional 500,000 barrels in six months.”

According to OilPrice.com, “The renewed downturn is also sparking pessimism among oil traders. In recent weeks speculators have taken the most bearish position on oil in years. Net-long positions on oil – betting that crude prices will rise – dropped by 28 percent for the week ending on July 21. The ratio of long to short positions for hedge funds dropped to 1.7 to 1, down from 4 to 1 over the past three months. In fact, net-long positions are at their lowest levels since 2010. In other words, speculators are the most pessimistic about oil prices than they have been at any point in the last five years. With hedging positions expiring, more companies will lose their protection and suffer from low prices. And unlike earlier this year when banks and equity markets were eager to provide cash injections into battered shale companies, betting on a rebound, financial lifelines are not as generous or as accessible as they were just a few months ago. New loans are coming with onerous interest rates. For some of the weakest companies, access to credit could soon be cut off entirely.”

So increasing supply and declining demand is bad news for the energy sector, particularly those companies with exposure to oil price fluctuations. Indeed every piece of data and analysis on the space reads like an epitaph for energy companies. So then why have I decided to start building positions in the energy sector when the entire space is clearly doomed?

For one I am a contrarian investor and believe that there is long-term value to be garnered from this sector. I also believe that much of this negativity is already reflected in the price for oil and energy stocks. It’s not like I woke up one morning and was shocked that there was an Iranian deal on the table. It has been a political circus for some time. Demand is declining, supply is ramped up. Again, we know all this. Will oil prices continue to drift lower? Yes probably. Will prices fall to $30 per barrel as many are predicting? It certainly could but not for any of the reasons mentioned above. It will be the unknown that will drive the commodity one way or the other. No one knows what it will be but it will happen. The best we can do is invest based on the data that we know and prepare a well planned investment thesis around the strategy.

What We Do Know

The supply side of the equation shows a glut of oil reverses and no indication of production slowdowns. That’s not a great sign. We also know that supply figures have been notoriously manipulated to show an over-supply scenario. Here is an interesting article I came across in OilPrice.com that reiterates that point.

“In the past, I documented the overstatements by both the IEA and EIA in 2014 & 2015 in terms of supply, inventory and understatements of demand. Others also noticed these distortions and, whether intentional or not, they exist and they are very large in dollar terms. These distortions, which are affecting price through media hype and/or direct/indirect price manipulation, are quite possibly the largest in financial history. Putting numbers behind it, with worldwide production running some 95 million barrels per day, and assuming $55 per barrel for oil, the market for crude oil is about $5.2 billion per day. Each $10/Barrel change is worth nearly $1 billion/day or $365 Billion/year for the worldwide crude oil market. Add the worldwide equity market caps of oil and oil related equities and debt you have a scandal that is in the trillions; a number that cannot be ignored.”

“According to Cornerstone Analytics, who have documented the IEA systematically underestimating demand in 2012-2013 only to revise it higher quarters if not years later, the EIA has created the appearance of an imbalance of supply by some 500 million barrels or $2.5 trillion in the last 5 quarters alone. This has easily swung oil by at least $20/barrel if not more. I have maintained that oil should have corrected to around $70 in the fall of 2014, tied to U.S. production increases which at the time represented the price at which drillers would continue to add to supply. That price tied to cost reductions has probably been reduced to $60ish currently. But today, with the consensus oversupply widely quoted in the media as some 2 million barrels per day worldwide, it’s clear that if the numbers are correct below, the perceived oversupply wouldn’t exist at all. Suffice it to say prices would be at least at the point where production would need to be added, perhaps around $60-$70 per barrel, if not higher. Assuming that number at $70 and with the blended average of WTI & Brent at $55/Barrel approximately, at $15/Barrel given the 95 million barrels of global production, then we can estimate that global oil markets are being undervalued by about $1.425 billion per day or over $500 billion per year.”

“Why regulators, and especially the media, refuse to address this, even in theory, and instead choose to perpetuate the falsehood of oversupply is beyond me. In the last two months, E&P equities fell 10 weeks in a row, which hasn’t happened since 1989. To answer our own question on why this entire event is being largely ignored, maybe that oil is thought to spur higher economic growth as suggested previously. But so far that has yet to even materialize as U.S. GDP growth has actually slowed, not accelerated. Only time will tell whether this exaggerated move in oil, as well as its volatility, is justified or not. As reported here, the EIA has already revised lower, though only slightly, its prior month’s production forecast as we predicted. Look for more of this to come.”

We are also well aware of the threat of Iranian oil supplies entering the market. Once again, the newly struck nuclear arrangement still has tremendous hurdles to overcome but let’s assume passage of the deal. This does not mean that Iranian oil supplies will hit the market immediately as Bijan Namdar Zanganeh suggests.

This Is Why Oil Markets Shouldn’t Worry About Iran’s Comeback – OilPrice.com: “So perhaps Zanganeh is jumping the gun a bit about the speed of Iran’s rebound in the global oil market. One independent oil analyst, Gary Ross, the executive chairman and head of global oil at the New York-based Pira Energy Group, said, “It should take a good year between the day they sign the agreement and when they add 500,000 barrels of production a day,” he told The New York Times. Yet, Ross concedes that no matter how quickly – or slowly – Iran restores its export potential, the global market should be able to absorb it without too much trouble. Today there are about 1 million more barrels of oil on the market than customers need, but he notes that the demand has been gradually rising, especially in Asia. As a result, Ross says, Iran’s goal of eventually adding 1 million barrels per day to the export market shouldn’t be much of a problem. “With each day, the market will be in a better position to accommodate the incremental Iranian oil.””

GOLDMAN: The Iran deal won't impact the oil market until 2016 – Business Insider: “In a note to clients on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs analysts predicted that the lifting of sanctions on Iran will be bearish for oil, though the effects won’t be seen until 2016… A gradual increase in Iran’s oil exports would start with the drawn down of the Islamic Republic’s floating storage of c.20­-40 mb, once the EU import bans are lifted. This would be followed by a jump in production, which Goldman says could lead to a c.200-­400 kb/d increase in Iranian exports in 2016. Much uncertainty still exists regarding the timing of the sanctions relief, and whether or not Iran will be able to reach pre-sanction production levels, but Goldman is convinced that the deal will eventually hurt oil prices.”

Gains in Iranian Oil Output Are Just One Way the Nuclear Deal Will Affect Oil Prices – PIMCO: “The nuclear accord, of course, is far from implementation. Among other steps, the U.S. Congress has 60 days to approve the deal; should it disapprove, Congress may struggle to overcome a White House veto. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also must verify that Iran has completed its commitments. In short, a lot can still go wrong. Should all work out, though, over the next 12 months Iran could provide an additional 500,000 barrels per day (b/d) – a not-immaterial volume but only one-third of what the U.S. added to global supplies in 2014. Moreover, we view this increase as more than discounted at current prices…Overall, we view this as a bearish event, but less because of incremental oil supplies in the next year and more because of the impact Iran could have on other suppliers over the long term. In our view, though, much of this Iran risk has been priced in already.”

OIL EXPERT: 'A potential return of Iranian oil to the market could not have come at a worse time' – Business Insider: “However, it's important to note that there are still many uncertainties over how quickly Iran will get off the bench and back into the game. "Restarting of mothballed fields and reopening the sector to foreign investment faces many obstacles," according to Barclays analysts. Additionally, Dr. Mamdouh G. Salameh, an international oil economist and World Bank consultant, told Gulf News that Iran's oilfields are old and need huge repairs if the Islamic Republic wants to increase production. "It will take Iran more than two years to deploy the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology to repair the damaged reservoirs in its oilfields and try to increase production," he said. "Even then it might only succeed in limiting the fast depletion in its oilfields rather than increase production."”

So it’s pretty well publicized that Iranian oil is coming to market. There are many variables and opinions as it relates not only to the validity of the Iranian deal but the time it will actually take for the increased oil production to hit the market full bore. So many variables and opinions that reflect the worst case scenario in our opinion. Given the depressed levels of the market and the extreme pessimism surrounding the industry, any positive news that comes out should have an exponential positive effect on prices in our opinion.

The Saudi Strategy

The Saudi Strategy calls for lowering the price of oil to cripple those producers at a higher cost point in order to maintain market share. The near-term manageable pain felt by the Saudi producers would be well worth the destruction of the U.S. shale boom and preservation as a leading producer. This is how I imagine the argument goes. The question arises if the Saudi’s miscalculated the ingenuity and efficiency of the American capital machine. It is true that U.S. rig counts have been in a free fall.

That said, U.S. production has not as of yet witnessed a significant drop in reduction. True many of these drillers need to maintain production levels in order to meet interest payments on their debt and keep the operations going. The hope is for survival through a temporary depression in the underlying commodity. This also forces these companies to extract higher levels of productivity than in the past and a favorable turn in the supply – demand dynamic will have an exponential effect on operations and profitability. If it is found that these companies are unable to withstand the weakened business climate, there will certainly be bankruptcies. That said, it’s our opinion that the money behind many of these entities is fairly intelligent and there will also be restructurings, mergers and acquisitions that will make the overall industry that much more efficient and productive.

 Have the Saudis miscalculated the impact of lower crude prices on US production? – Sober Look: “The Saudi response was quite rational. Rather than cutting production to support crude oil prices, the Saudis announced that output will remain the same. In private they were planning to actually increase production in order to meet rising domestic demand as well as to regain market share. The idea was to put a squeeze on the high-cost North American oil firms, halting production growth and ultimately getting prices back into a more profitable range. Other OPEC nations reluctantly agreed to play along. Is it working? So far the results have been less than what the Saudis had hoped for. After a bounce from the lows, crude oil has been trading in a relatively tight range, with WTI futures fluctuating around $60/bbl. How is this price stability possible when the common wisdom was that oil prices below $70/bbl will force most US producers to close shop and North American production would collapse? After all we've seen a spectacular decline in active oil rig count. The answer has less to do with rigs that have been taken offline and more with the technology that remains. After the inefficient rigs have been shut, US rig count is starting to stabilize. US crude producers are achieving record efficiency with the remaining equipment. The charts below show new-well oil production per rig. From multi-well padding (multiple wells in a single location) to superior drill bits, technology is helping to keep production levels high. Well completion costs and the speed of drilling have improved to levels many thought were not possible.”

U.S. Winning Oil War Against Saudi Arabia – Forbes: “In fact, I think they’ve lost this war by inadvertently making the U.S. shale oil industry leaner and meaner. Most likely, oil prices will remain reasonably low at somewhere around $70/bbl, and natural gas prices quite low at about $3.75 per mmcf, for many years – which is good for the American consumer, even if it might be bad for the environment. From a production standpoint, this oil war pits conventional oil against unconventional, sort of like jelly donuts versus tiramisu (see figure below).”

“While over half of the proven oil reserves are generally under the control of OPEC, there are many more unconventional reserves, such as oil shale, heavy oils and tar sands, outside the Middle East (see 2nd figure below). And most of these are on the edge of affordability. Thus, OPEC would like to keep the price of oil low enough that these reserves never enter the world supply to jeopardize OPEC’s influence.”

 

 

“However, while Saudi Arabia produces 10 million barrels of oil per day, more than any other country, it has little-to-no extra capacity to adjust to sudden increase in demand. Similarly for the other OPEC nations.  So OPEC can no longer control the price and supply as well as they used to, because there is too much outside supply and too much growing volatility in demand. The above costs are only to sell from existing fields. But the Saudis need over $100 per barrel to significantly grow their capacity to produce, a critical distinction that is usually overlooked. So the Saudis pressed the OPEC nations to drop prices by increasing production in the hope of driving U.S. oil companies out of business. The big global oil companies could weather this war, but the small ones, some of which led the fracking revolution, may not. What this war has engendered, instead of halting U.S. shale oil production, is a rapid consolidation and merging of companies that has increased efficiencies and lowered production costs so that the marginal cost of shale oil can go lower and lower and still allow shale oil to compete on the global market. Zusman put it this way, “This behavior is typical for a new market that is highly fragmented and inefficient, and that is undergoing a significant evolutionary change. It is all about localizing, not generalizing, everything from oil recovery, cost of full field development, and expected returns. There is going to be a ton of performance dispersion as the industry moves into a more manufacturing-like state. The race for land has now become a race for efficiencies. “On the other hand, “In response to lower oil and natural gas prices, exploration and production companies have slashed capital budgets by over 40% on a year-over-year basis, and the oil rig count fell by 58% from its 2014 peak. ”Over 1,000 drill rigs in America, a third of all rigs that were active, have been disassembled in the first half of this year (Oil&Gas 360). The rig count fell at a pace of 57 rigs per week in the first quarter, faster than the 49 rigs per week decline in 2009 when the financial world was collapsing. This is just what OPEC was hoping for in their oil war with the United States, but it does not seem to be accomplishing what they expected. The low prices led to a global glut that led to the falling rig count, but without so many rigs, the supply cannot rebound quickly and prices increased again, bringing more rigs back. And the cycle repeats itself. With each iteration, the U.S. oil industry gets more efficient and smarter. As an indication of this evolution, $11 billion of new equity was issued from the major oil companies in just the half of 2015. This was more equity issued than in all of 2014, and means the capital markets are available and ready and see a strong shale oil future. As all this has been occurring within the United States, the rest of the world has been changing, too. Dropping oil prices from $100/bbl to below $70/bbl has imperiled the finances of many OPEC nations and authoritarian governments overly-dependent on oil revenue. This, in turn, has produced social unrest, since many of these governments are already at risk of violence from their populations. Even worse for OPEC, the rate of change in oil production has recently begun to slow, and the oil price has recovered from the low $40′s per barrel to the mid $50′s. Five-year deferred oil futures contracts have increased to $66 per barrel. This level can easily sustain the newly-consolidated U.S. shale oil industry, effectively ending this oil war. Is it time for the Saudis to surrender?”

US oil operators make plans to add rigs, but will be disciplined: analysts – Platts: “Several companies have already outlined plans to add rigs, including:

--Pioneer Natural Resources said, starting in July, it will put two rigs/month to work until December. In Q1 2016 it expects to add eight more rigs, including six in the eastern Permian and two in the Eagle Ford Shale. --Independent Matador Petroleum could add a third rig in the Permian in the third quarter.

--Another small independent, Parsley Energy, said it would accelerate one month, to June, its addition of a fourth rig in the Permian Basin, on top of two others added recently.

--WPX Energy said Thursday it will add two more rigs in the Permian Basin starting in August.

--Apache reportedly has indicated it may add five rigs, probably in the Permian, in second-half 2015 based on an oil price of $60-$65/b.

"While the incremental [increases] may be scaring off some investors, the total amount of additional committed rigs is roughly 40, which ... is not the game-changer that should result in big changes in oil production trends," RBC Capital Markets analyst Leo Mariani said in a Thursday investor note. One reason oil companies may be slower to add rigs than they have been in the past is that they have wrung astonishing efficiencies from their operations in a very short period of time, as the number of days to drill a well keeps contracting while initial well production rates and estimated hydrocarbon recoveries expand. Also, corporate efficiencies, coupled with cost concessions of around 15%-25% granted by oil services and equipment providers this year, have also lowered well costs and driven up internal return rates in the best plays to the point that operators appear comfortable with the current price environment, even if they privately hope for an eventual return to $80/b oil. As long as operators continue to pursue efficiencies, drive down costs and wrest larger volumes of oil and gas from the ground to meet production goals, more rigs may not be needed for awhile, said Carl Larry, a Frost & Sullivan oil and gas consultant. "There's really no need to increase the rig count as long as we're being as efficient as we are," Larry said. He added if oil should hit $70/b it might be a catalyst to bring more rigs into the market.”

So U.S. drillers are adapting to changes in the underlying pricing structure and again, that can have a profound impact on investments in this sector at these levels.

Pessimism Amongst Oil Traders Reaches 5 Year High – OilPrice.com: “Even the oil majors are making big-time cutbacks. From the largest oil companies alone, more than $200 billion in spending on new oil projects have been cancelled or suspended, according to a new Wood Mackenzie report. Those 46 projects account for 20 billion barrels of oil reserves. Many of the projects are large-scale offshore projects located in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of West Africa, but also high-cost onshore fields, such as Canada’s oil sands. These projects require large upfront costs, require complex engineering, and take years to develop. Royal Dutch Shell is expected to announce fresh spending cuts this week, slashing several billion dollars off of its $33 billion spending plan released in April. Deferring projects today makes sense as oil companies try to plug deep holes in their balance sheets. But it also raises the question over available supplies over the long-term. Cancelling projects now will “create a substantial hole in the industry’s investment pipeline,” the Wood Mackenzie report concludes. But that is too far off for companies to think about. For now, many are just trying to survive the latest downturn in prices.”

OPEC Pressures

The Saudi strategy is not only hurting the U.S. energy market but other OPEC members as well. Perhaps internal OPEC members will have sway over Saudi Arabia’s pricing strategy that Saudi Arabia may consider in order to keep OPEC relevant in influencing oil pricing. In fact, the price of oil rallied last week on unconfirmed rumors that Saudi Arabia was considering production cuts later this year. Whether this influence is enough to alter the current strategy remains to be seen, but there are certainly internal pressures by other OPEC members.

The return of Iranian oil might cause more tensions in OPEC – Business Insider: “Richer Gulf producers, led by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, remain eager for the cartel to preserve valuable market share and force out high-cost US shale producers with lower oil price levels. “Clearly there is a divide between the countries on this new policy of seeking new market share," Ann-Louise Hittle at consultancy Wood Mackenzie told AFP. "So it could be a contentious (OPEC) meeting and there could be pressure for an emergency meeting before December. “Faced with stubbornly low prices, Algeria's energy minister Salah Khabri indicated to state news agency APS last week that an emergency OPEC meet could be needed. "The real problem starts when OPEC members begin to fight for quotas amid oversupply and market share disputes," said Jassem al-Saadun, head of Kuwait's Al-Shall Economic Consultants. "If Iran, Venezuela, Algeria and Libya -- all of which need to pump more -- enter into a dispute with the Gulf producers, then it could be the end for OPEC," he warned. Danske Bank analyst Jens Naervig Pedersen said such countries had been "really hit" by low oil prices. But he added: "Their collective power is probably not great enough to turn the mind of Saudi Arabia and the core members of OPEC in the Middle East."”

Why We’re Building Positions Now

Our sector rotation program attempts to place a fair market value for each of the S&P sectors using income statement, balance sheet and statement of cash flow variables. Each ratio is expressed as a “yield” and correlations are run to assign the greatest weight to the valuation method that has been most accurate historically. Running a historical back test of the methodology has produced good returns. We found that the greatest average annual returns can be found in the top three sectors that offer the greatest value. Over the past fifteen years following a strategy that invests in the top three sectors that yielded the greatest value with quarterly rebalancing produced results of 90.2% versus 44.7% for the S&P 500. The maximum drawdown (assuming zero portfolio protection) for the program was 37.1% versus 53.5% for the S&P 500. The Sharpe ratio for the program produced a superior 3.36 compared to 2.26 for the index.

 

The S&P Energy sector currently ranks in the top three “valuable” sectors.

The twelve-month forward earnings estimates, book value per share and cash flow per share have all been declining recently. Based on the current levels of each, we’re finding the sector to be undervalued by roughly 20%. This figure will obviously change with further deterioration in sector fundamentals. That said, we will scale into positions as the market allows and believe that any small improvement in the supply – demand dynamic will have an exponentially positive effect on fundamentals at this point. We are also investing in the largest companies in the sector that have the wherewithal to capitalize on efficiencies through restructuring, mergers and acquisitions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technical Mess

Looking at the weekly chart for WTI, it appears an important near-term support level is approaching that may provide a spring of positive buying with in the space. We also like to track the percent of companies within the index that are in a point & figure bullish pattern as a sign for near term strength. Currently 14% of the companies in the S&P Energy sector are showing bullish P&F formations. Historically speaking for this index, any reading below 16% represents a buy signal.

 

 

 

 

That said, looking out at the longer-term pricing chart, it looks terrible. It is definitely plausible to expect the price of oil to retest the late 2008 – early 2009 lows of sub $40ppb. As long as the RSI and stochastic oscillators remain in a downward trend, portfolio protection is a viable strategy.

 

 

Bottom Line: The supply – demand dynamic surrounding oil appears broken and stocks are reflecting that. With sentiment in the sector so low and with so many unknowns within the supply – demand dynamic, it is our belief that much of this negativity is already reflected in stock prices and any signs of positive news within the space are bound to have exponentially positive implications for the sector both psychologically and fundamentally. We are well aware of the risks to our thesis and wouldn’t be surprised by further downside. We are unable to pick the bottom but will do our best to mitigate losses in the portfolio. As we await the coming support level, we will use any bounce in the space to add to our portfolio protection as we wait for our fundamental thesis to take shape (we don’t mind sacrificing a small portion of the expected return for portfolio insurance at this point). Additional weakness will allow us to further increase our position to our desired exposure.

Joseph S. Kalinowski, CFA

Additional Reading

Crude oil has turned green – Business Insider

Here's why the rig count matters – Business Insider

As US energy output surges, Republicans lead effort to lift decades-old oil export ban – Fox News

Halliburton is still getting slammed by the oil crash – Business Insider

Actually, Iraq is the oil market's biggest problem – Business Insider

US banks are setting aside more money to cover bad loans to energy companies – Business Insider

Oil Shipments By Rail Declining – OilPrice.com

The oil crash has done nothing for America – Business Insider

Sudden Drop in Crude-Oil Prices Roils U.S. Energy Firms’ Rebound – Wall Street Journal

Are lower oil prices really a problem? – Calafia Beach Pundit

Rude awakening for those who ignored the energy markets' warning signs – Sober Look

Oil Majors Resigned To Lower Oil Price Environment – OilPrice.com

Chevron profits collapse – Business Insider

Exxon Mobil profits crash 52% - Business Insider

Historic Deal With Iran Opens Up Oil Industry – OilPrice.com

Crude oil is spiking – Business Insider

One of the world's biggest oil companies thinks the worst is over – Business Insider

Drilling giant Baker Hughes warns the pain from oil crash is far from over – Business Insider

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