View on a 'crude' few days from Houston

The Oilholic is glad to be back in Houston, Texas, US for yet another visit. However, in many ways the latest outing marks several first instances. It is this blogger's first instance of arriving in America's oil and gas capital right after an OPEC summit, the first immediately following a mammoth oil price crash, and the first when several events yours truly was planning on attending, including IHS CERAWeek have been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak that is wrecking the global economy. 

Yours truly promised some considered viewpoints 'to follow' while scrambling out of Vienna, to get here via London following the collapse of OPEC+, and here they are - thoughts on why $30 oil prices could be the short-term norm, and in fact $20 could follow via Forbes, thoughts on the shocking but inevitable collapse of OPEC+ via Rigzone, and why the recovery since Monday's (March 9) oil price slump is not a profound change to where the market stands, again via Forbes. 

Interspersed will penning thoughts for publications, the Oilholic met some familiar trading contacts in H-Town (you all know who you are), and met two new crude souls via mutual contacts too. Most seem surprised by the level of Aramco's discounts for April cargoes, and opined that they were three times over their expectations. 

The Saudis certainly mean business, and what was a crisis of demand following the coronavirus outbreak that has crippled China; has Iran, Italy and South Korea in its grip; and has seen emergency protocols being activated from California, US to Hokkaido, Japan now has a new dimension. It is now a crisis of demand coupled with a supply glut as OPEC and non-OPEC producers tough it out in a race to the bottom of the barrel. That's all from Houston, for the moment folks! More soon. For now, keep reading! Keep it 'crude'!

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© Gaurav Sharma 2020. Photo: Downtown Houston, Texas, US © Gaurav Sharma, March 10, 2020.

ExxonMobil's Ghost Building in Houston

On the way to business meetings on Louisiana and Bagby Street in downtown Houston, Texas, earlier this week, the Oilholic cut across Bell Street passing by number 800, which of course was once ExxonMobil’s downtown office, with the top two floors being the dining space for the Petroleum Club of Houston (PCOH).

Alas no more, as all former occupants of the building have moved to the oil giant's sprawling campus in Spring, TX close to The Woodlands north of George Bush Intercontinental Airport. That’s excluding the PCOH which is now at the nearby Total Plaza.

According to the Houston Chronicle’s archives, Shorenstein Properties closed on the property for anundisclosed amount in the first quarter of 2013 with plans for making changes and improvements following ExxonMobil’s departure.

However, the oil giant has since leased back the entire building and not much has happened. Plans to move local government agencies into the building or other private tenants for that matter haven’t quite worked out either.

Shame the city and the building’s owners can’t work out what to do with the historic offices built in 1963 which ExxonMobil occupied until recently (see right). Downtown area of the oil and gas capital of the world could well do without another ghost building, having had one nearby left behind by Enron's collapse until Chevron moved in years later. That’s all for the moment from Houston folks; keep reading, keep it crude!

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© Gaurav Sharma 2016. Photo 1: 800 Bell Street, Houston, Texas, USA in 2016. Photo 2: The building's exterior in 2010. © Gaurav Sharma.