美国38家油气公司今年资本支出削减410亿美元

据石油和天然气新闻休斯顿报道，由于纽约商品交易所轻质低硫原油的交易价徘徊在35美元/桶左右，低油价环境正在给美国的石油和天然气运营商带来很大的困难。

为了应对油价的急剧下跌，美国38家石油和天然气公司日前把他们今年的资本支出向下修订了36%，减少了410亿美元，但这些修订现在似乎终于尘埃落定。

支出削减的很大一部分是减少钻井和完井活动：与3月中旬的水平相比，美国在用水平石油钻机减少了67%，水力压裂队伍减少了82%。5月份，钻井活动继续其下滑，但下滑速度有所放缓，这是因为作业者每周环比平均退役了25部钻机，与4月份每周环比平均退役65部钻机相比有所改善。

这很可能是在用钻机数接近它们底部的信号，预计到明年年初，在用钻机数将保持在300部左右。在2022年年底之前，钻机活动预计将不会大幅增加，这在很大程度上反映在运营商的最新指南报告中。

对许多油气公司来说，削减资本支出将不足以在低油价环境下生存下来。已经确认有29家油气公司(其中17家勘探和生产公司，12家油田服务公司)出现债务违约，其中几家公司因财务困难已申请破产。

第一批申请破产保护的规模最大的勘探和生产公司之一是惠廷石油公司，该公司在4月1日申请破产保护。惠廷石油公司一直专注于在北达科他州威利斯顿盆地的页岩钻探作业。该公司希望大幅减少债务，并建立一个更可持续的资本结构。惠廷石油公司最近利用6.5亿美元的信贷额度，计划以最小的中断继续其日常运营。

李峻 编译自 油气新闻

原文如下：

US oil and gas companies file for bankruptcy amid depressed prices

The low oil price environment is causing hardship for US operators as NYMEX light, sweet crude trades around $35/b.

In reaction to the sharp decline in oil prices, 38 US operators have revised 2020 capital expenditures by 36%, a reduction of $41 billion, but it appears the revisions have finally stabilized.

A large part of the spending cut was reducing the amount of drilling and completion activity: US horizontal oil rigs are down 67% and fracking crews are down 82% from mid-March levels. In May, drilling activity continued its decline but at a slower pace, as operators decommissioned rigs at an average of 25 rigs week-over-week, an improvement compared with April's average decline of 65 rigs W/W.

This is likely a sign that rigs are approaching their floor and the expectation is that they will stay around the 300 rig level until early 2021. A significant increase in rig activity isn't expected until 2022, which is largely reflected in the latest operator guidance reports.

For many companies, a reduction in capex won't be enough to survive the low oil price environment. It hasbeenidentified that 29 companies (17 exploration and production companies and 12 oilfield services companies) that have defaulted on debt, with several of them filing for bankruptcy due to financial hardship.

One of the first, and largest, E&P companies to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was Whiting Petroleum on April 1. The company has been focused on drilling in North Dakota's Williston basin. The company hopes to reduce a significant amount of its debt and establish a more sustainable capital structure moving forward. With a recent draw on its credit facility of $650 million, the company plans to continue its daily operations with minimal interruptions.