Good morning, here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• Conoco Eyes Major Acquisition

• Canada Delays Carbon Tax Amid Outcry

• Upcoming Oil and Gas Events

• Tweet of the Day

Conoco Eyes Major Acquisition

The deal race is truly on in the U.S. oil patch.

After the megadeals that Exxon and Chevron announced over the past two weeks, now it’s Conoco’s turn.

Per Reuters, Conoco is eyeing Permian producer CrownRock to catch up with the other two.

From no deals to a wave of megadeals

A couple of years ago, the M&A world in U.S. oil was a boring place.

Companies were still coming around after the pandemic.

And they were trying to deal with the growing investor pressure on emissions.

Then the energy crunch came, and with it, soaring oil and gas prices.

Record profits were made.

It was high time the majors started using them to grow fast.

When the wave subsides, there will be a lot fewer players in the oil field.

Because Conoco is not the only one eager to buy.

Per the Reuters report, Marathon Oil, Diamondback Energy, and Devon are also interested in CrownRock.

What does it mean for future oil demand?

Now that’s the million-dollar, or rather hundreds-of-billions-dollar question.

Per oil producers, it means that oil demand is nowhere near peaking.

Per transition fans, oil producers—and Exxon and Chevron—are trying to trick us into thinking demand is nowhere near peaking.

Yeah, it sounds a bit strange to spend $60 billion on tricking people into believing something that’s not true.

And risk losing every last cent of that considerable amount because your bluff will be called.

Quite a bit strange to do that if you expect, deep down, demand to decline.

But I guess Big Oil knows what it’s doing.

It wouldn’t have become Big Oil otherwise.

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Canada Delays Carbon Tax Amid Outcry

The Trudeau government has been busy raising prices for Canadians.

Eager to reduce emissions, it slapped a carbon tax on fuels and wanted to add heating oil to the bill, too.

But Canadians depending on it for winter said no in great numbers.

The government, amazingly, listened.

Switch to heat pumps but not yet

Some 2.6 million people in eastern Canada use heating oil.

Trudeau wants them to switch to heat pumps.

But he will first give people three years to do that before heating oil gets more expensive.

It’s all about the votes.

Those 2.6 million people are, after all, voters.

And carbon taxes have done the Liberals in Canada no favors.

They’ve done the opposite by hiking living expenses considerably.

So, the Trudeau government has faced a choice.

Keep pushing for a transition and lose elections, or ease the pressure and get a chance.

It might be too little, too late

The Liberals have taken a dive in polls because of the cost of living crisis in Canada.

Carbon taxes have played a big part in that crisis.

And Canadians are aware of it.

A recent survey showed more than half want the carbon tax reduced.

A smaller portion wants it scrapped altogether.

Only a tiny minority of 18% are happy with rising carbon—and everything else—prices.

Must be the wealthiest 18%.

The rest might think twice about voting Liberal next time.

Upcoming Oil & Gas Events

• November 1: Oil and Gas Electrification Symposium, Longmont, CO

• November 2: LOGA State Industry Series, Benedict’s Plantation, Mandeville, LA

• November 6: Louisiana Energy Golf Open, Oakbourne Country Club, Lafayette, LA

• November 6-8: IPAA Annual Meeting, JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa, San Antonio, TX

• November 7: LOGA State of the Industry Series, Petroleum Club of Houston, Houston, TX

• November 8: Colorado Oil and Gas Association 39th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO

• November 8: IADC Annual General Meeting, Hyatt Regency Austin, TX

• November 9: Deepwater Executive Summit, Hyatt Houston West, Houston, TX

Around the Global Patch

🇮🇹 Eni surpasses Q3 earnings projections with oil and gas success.
🇪🇺 Critical summit: addressing diesel shortage risk.
🇨🇳 U.S. auto giant invests billions in Chinese EV startup.

Tweet of the Day

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