The purported “objective” of this (big oil price fall primarily via Saudis) was/is to put the squeeze on the Russians over the Ukraine but the little side benefit to the greenies and demonrats is going to be the crushing (as has been done before) of the investment/capital structure of oil exploration and production in the US in this cycle...
On the positive side, there’s probably been enough wells put in that it will only be a matter of turning them on so to speak when the price begins rising.
And now we have a duopoly in oilfield services.
Halliburton and Schlumberger.
I’m sure the two will be very competitive and drive prices down.
Wow!
The Beaumont Enterprise as a source of news.
Thought I would never see the day.
Unless of course one of team Obama outdoes themselves, as happens here with regularity.
Analysts say the two will have significant antitrust hurdles to deal with, and will likely have to spin off, sell or divest in part of their businesses including well cementing, logging-while-drilling tools that capture subterranean data, and engines that control the direction of underground drilling paths. That will almost certainly result in job cuts.
Halliburton said it agreed to divest businesses that make up to $7.5 billion in revenue if antitrust authorities require it, but it said it expects that amount to be significantly less. It also agreed to pay Baker Hughes a $3.5 billion break-up fee if the deal falls through.
Halliburton and Baker Hughes, the second and third biggest oil field service companies in the world, have 15,000 employees in Houston and 136,000 around the world. They said the combination would result in $2 billion in cost savings and revenue increases. Combined 2013 revenues were $51.8 billion.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2014/11/17/halliburton-to-buy-baker-hughes-for-34-6-billion/
Two fine companies...both started by men of vision!