ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) COP recently received permission from the Petroleum Safety Authority, the Norwegian offshore safety watchdog, to use the Valaris JU-292 jack-up unit of Valaris plc (VAL) at the Ekofisk field in the North Sea (NYSE:SE). ConocoPhillips has been utilizing the rig on a contract in Norway since last November. The contract is set to expire in the second month of the next year.
The consent from the regulatory authority allows ConocoPhillips to plug and abandon six wells at the field. Moreover, it pertains to the removal of five wells’ conductor casings, which have been plugged and abandoned earlier in the Ekofisk field, located in the southern area of the Norwegian sector in the sea.
The Ekofisk field — one of the largest fields in the Norwegian continental shelf — was discovered in 1969 and commenced production in 1971. At a water depth of 70-75 meters, it was the country’s first oil and gas producing field. It has a reservoir from the Cretaceous geological period with 300-meter high oil column. The reservoir is located 3000 meters below the sea level.
ConocoPhillips is one of the largest operators in the Norwegian continental shelf. In early February, it received five production licenses in APA 2019 in the shelf.
Owing to weak commodity prices due to the coronavirus pandemic, the upstream energy player has decided to voluntarily curtail production volumes. For the month of May, the company expects gross curtailment of 265 thousand barrels of oil per day (MBbl/d). It projects voluntary gross curtailment for the month of June to be 460 MBbl/d.
Price Performance
The company’s shares have lost 28.3% in the last six months compared with 37.7% decline of the industry it belongs to.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
ConocoPhillips currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Two better-ranked players in the energy space include Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG) COG and CNX Resources (NYSE:CNX) Corporation CNX, each holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Cabot Oil & Gas beat earnings estimates thrice and met once in the last four quarters, with average positive surprise of 6.1%.
CNX Resources beat earnings estimates thrice and met once in the last four quarters, with average positive surprise of 111.5%.
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ConocoPhillips (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report
Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Oil Gas Corporation (COG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Ensco plc (VAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
CNX Resources Corporation. (CNX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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