Devon had been running a slack operation for many years and the the sudden drop in prices only expedited its day of reckoning. Devon will forever serve as an example of what not to do when commodity prices are high. Priority was given to things other than finding and producing oil and gas. (Processes, arbitrary rules, building political fiefdoms) The company today is anything but a lean & efficient E&P company. They will have to totally restructure the company to salvage what is left.
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I completely agree. All the excessive rules are what I found such a waste. It was such a shame to see things change in such a negative way starting in 2012.
Devon is a wasteful operator. This style of running a company is not suitable for shale oil plays. There is simply no room for profit margin when your operating like BP, Exxon, or Chevron.
They didn't leverage up when everyone else did when prices were high in 2014 and take on massive debt like other large independents. Wall Street was baffled by the move and then prices tanked, asked Devon what they saw that everyone else didn't. During that time they extended their 2015 hedges at ~$90/BBL and were in better position than just about anyone from a debt load and balance sheet position for their peer group. There is a reason their peers had several rounds of cuts in 2015 and Devon is just now having its first. Hard to call that poor management.
Yes. Some BUs scratched and clawed for every dollar, while others pissed it away like drunken sailors
Yeah. I agree, was told to pinch pennies,meanwhile it was being shovel out the back door.
I agree to some extent... Devon definitely need to improve governance rules and business process; however, the corporate politics was a major short cumming of the company.