Oil & Gas - No Good News

The industry still isn't in the clear as a variety of oil and gas companies continue to struggle to survive in the new lower-oil-price reality. Not helping matters? BNP Paribas decided to cutoff business (firewall) with companies whose primary business is oil and gas extraction from shale deposits and/or tar sands - an aggressive measure to reduce exposure to fossil fuels. Obviously this is an opportunity for the shadow bankers. Also not helping matters: the US continues to export over a million barrels a day, exporting into foreign markets and counter-balancing OPEC's efforts to curtail supply. Nevertheless, theInternational Energy Agency lowered its forecast for 2018. And a group of oil and gas execs surveyed by Deloitte see crude oil prices remaining below $60/barrel through 2018 which will require producers to continue focusing on lowering costs (thereby further squeezing oil field servicers).