The Private Capital Conference was held in Houston on January 23, 2020, at the JW Marriott, in the Galleria.  The theme of the event was Extending The Runway:  Private Capital Assesses Its Options.  I met quite a few independent oil companies there.

What I found out is that the independents typically go after the smaller wells.  The smaller wells still make good money but they are too small for the big majors to go after.  These wells appear to be riskier too.

External capital is typically used to go after these smaller wells.  The people at the conference said “capital is tight”.  Not that there is not any.  There is plenty of liquidity but the rate of return on the investment is not high enough.  Rising inventories and low oil prices seem to be the cause of this dilemma.

For more information on the conference, please go to their website:  https://www.ipaa.org/events/private-capital-conference-2020/