You what?!? Magnolia dilutes into M&A; COP enters Iraq

By Paul Sankey Published on July 21, 2026 at 1:55 PM

It was said that the late, great oil legend Steve Chazen, former CEO and Chairman of Oxy and then founder of Magnolia Oil & Gas, had one of three responses to emails: “Yes”, “No” and “Have you lost your mind?” Two recent announcements had us questioning which reply to send. HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jul. 17, 2026– ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) today announced it has agreed to terms with bp to acquire a 42% interest in BP Energy Company …

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Sunday Whistling Past

By Paul Sankey Published on May 3, 2026 at 4:02 PM

Greetings, Refiners are running at max capacity, and oil prices are finding a Hormuz blockage hierarchy. Excess profits are accruing to oil producers, US refiners, and shipping companies. Front page of USA Today, Daily Mail, nothing on Hormuz. I scrolled all the way down on the NY Post – not one story on Hormuz today. While the oil analysts get frantic, the NASDAQ hit a record high, and the President’s most important advisor, Mr Market, …

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Kimmeridge Coal and Texas Tea

By Paul Sankey Published on November 22, 2025 at 8:06 PM

Mark Viviano, who was on this week’s Happy Hour, is an outstanding presenter. He outlined the background and success of his part of Kimmeridge, the private equity oil firm started by Ben Dell and Neil McMahon, two former sellside Wall Street analysts. Former Wellington Oil & Gas buyside analyst Mark is now on his third Kimmeridge fund since starting up in 2020, same year as Sankey Research sent our first note, July 4th, Independence Day …

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