Moody's: Costs Are Covered with Oil at $42 a Barrel

From Fuel Fix:
The median North American independent producer can survive at about a $42 per barrel of oil equivalent price, according to a new analysis by credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service. 
The study compared the full-cycle cost of production among independent producers and found that many could easily handle low commodity prices thanks to significant cost savings and continued production growth. Full-cycle costs include the cost of producing each barrel of oil equivalent as well as the cost of finding a new barrel to replace the one produced. The calculation also includes interest payments companies need to make to service any debt. 
“Total full-cycle costs are a good if not perfect proxy for the company’s total economics and breakeven cash costs required to both produce and replace production, and to service debt,” Moody’s analysts wrote. 
Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., a large natural gas driller in the Appalachian Basin, had the lowest costs at about $13.07 per barrel of oil equivalent. Randor, Pennsylvania-based Penn Virginia Corp., had the highest full-cycle costs at about $135 per barrel of oil equivalent, Moody’s said. 
“The average full-cycle cost of $44/boe and portfolio median of $42/boe signal that some E&P companies with a high proportion of liquids production could withstand oil prices at a relatively weak pace price of $50/boe in 2015, but a number of companies with unsustainable high cost structures must reduce total full-cycle costs significantly,” the ratings agency wrote.
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There have been other projections of how low oil prices can be while still allowing producers to continue operating, but this is the lowest number I can remember seeing from any of them.  There is no question that the focus for producers will continue to be on lowering costs while oil prices remain low.

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