You are here

Business

World's Largest Miner Books Massive $7.2 Billion Writedown On US Shale "Assets"

World's Largest Miner Books Massive $7.2 Billion Writedown On US Shale "Assets"

Late last month, Freeport McMoRan co-founder and executive chairman James R. Moffett was shown the door.

Moffett, known as the “last of the old-time wildcatters”, was a legend in the industry but made a fatal mistake in 2013: he paid $2.1 billion for McMoRan Exploration Co (an oil-and-gas company the parent company had separated from in the 1990s), and $6.9 billion for Plains Plains Exploration & Production.

As WSJ put it, “the deals in part were a bet that oil prices would remain high.”

Frontrunning: January 15

  • Crude sinks 4 percent as market braces for more Iranian oil (Reuters)
  • Plunge in crude oil prices send stock futures sliding (Reuters)
  • Oil Slides, Deepening Gloom in Stocks as Bond Buyers Celebrate (BBG)
  • China Stocks Enter Bear Market, Erasing Gains From State Rescue (BBG)
  • Goldman Says It Will Pay $5.1b in U.S. Mortgage Probe (CBS)
  • Friendly no more: Trump, Cruz erupt in bitter fight at Republican debate (Reuters)
  • China to expand coverage of advantaged import tax policies nationwide (Xinhua)

Pages