Arrington Oil and Gas

Big Oil is outside looking in companies—largely in Texas and New Mexico—the Bigs find that the independents sit upon the leaseholds they (the majors) once controlled.

And notice: where deal-making is concerned, it is the Devons of the world that have the deals with the Chinese, Australians, and French. It is the Pioneers of the world that have the partnerships with India. It is Anadarko Petroleum that is doing deals with the Koreans. Chesapeake with China and with Norwegian interests. Progress Energy with Malaysia. For Big Oil, it’s a different domestic energy landscape—a world ruled by independents

In our first installment of this series, we quoted Midland oilman Bob Landreth, who remarked that “The [major oil companies] will never again be the force they used to be 40 or 50 years ago. That is not going to happen.”

In the second installment of this series, we quoted Pioneer Natural Resources President and CEO Scott Sheffield, saying, “People would not have thought that companies like Arco and Amoco would be sold, and then all of a sudden you would have independents who are as large or larger than the Arcos and Amocos.”

And now, in this concluding installment, we look at the larger implications of this phenomenal role reversal. And at the reasons why the independents have been so strikingly successful.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America is “the national association representing the thousands of independent crude oil and natural gas explorer/producers in the United States.” Fred Lawrence, the IPAA’s vice president for economics and international affairs, told PBOG that “a lot of the majors are returning” to domestic oil fields after having toiled in deepwater offshore and foreign onshore fields.

• Corning Natural Gas
• Gas in Oil pan
• Bloomberg Oil and Gas
• Pioneer Oil and Gas