Exxon Banks Record $56B Profit in '22
Exxon Mobil Corp posted a $56 billion net profit for 2022, the company said on Tuesday, taking home about $6.3 million per hour last year, and setting not only a company record but a historic high for the Western oil industry. Oil majors are expected to break their own annual records on high prices and soaring demand, pushing their combined take to near $200 billion. The scale has renewed criticism of the oil industry and sparked calls for more countries to levy windfall profit taxes on the companies.Exxon's results far exceeded the then-record $45.2 billion net profit it reported in 2008…
Finance: Investors Become Super-Bullish on Oil
Portfolio investors have piled into petroleum futures and options at the fastest rate since the first successful coronavirus vaccines were announced in late 2020.China’s exit from a zero-COVID strategy, along with hopes the global economy can avoid a recession and low oil inventories, have contributed to an extraordinary wave of buying across the petroleum complex.Hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 232 million barrels in the six most important futures and options contracts over the six weeks ended Jan.
U.S. Climate Bill Exempts most of Oil Industry from Methane Fees
The U.S. Senate climate bill’s fee on oil and gas industry methane emissions will cover less than half the sector’s releases of the powerful greenhouse gas, thanks to concessions made to win over party holdout Joe Manchin, according to a review of the legislation and interviews with lawmakers that negotiated it.The reduced scope of the fee is among numerous changes made by Senate Democratic leadership to secure a deal on the hard-won Inflation Reduction Act, which is being hailed as the biggest climate package in U.S.
Yesterday’s or Tomorrow’s Offshore Energy: Which to Pick?
Looking back, it is easy to wonder if one could have done better by taking the other fork in the road. I grew up in Holland in a maritime family and am pretty sure I would have stuck with maritime there. In 1968, when I was 8 years old, my father left Holland America Line and joined the United States Salvage Association. At the same time, their main customer, the U.S. marine insurance industry, became heavily involved in the development of North Sea offshore oil and gas, and it resulted in an economic boom that made USSA’s Rotterdam office wildly profitable. My father had become the Rotterdam office manager; and, in 1976, somehow U.S.
Biden Announces Return to Global Climate Accord, New Curbs on US Oil Industry
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced America's return to the international Paris Agreement to fight climate change, the centerpiece of a raft of day-one executive orders aimed at restoring U.S. leadership in combating global warming.The announcements also included a sweeping order to review all of former President Donald Trump's actions weakening climate change protections, the revocation of a vital permit for TC Energy's Keystone XL oil pipeline project from Canada, and a moratorium on oil and gas leasing…
US Oil Industry Group Pledges to Fight Possible Biden Fracking Limits
If U.S. President-elect Joe Biden tries to restrict development of oil and gas drilling on federal lands, the American Petroleum Institute (API) will use "every tool at its disposal" including legal action, chief executive Mike Sommers said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.Biden has said he supports a ban on new gas and oil permits — including fracking — on federal lands.Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a drilling technology that has allowed the U.S. oil industry to vastly boost output in recent years, making the United States the world's largest producer of crude oil.
Coronavirus, Consolidation Taking Toll On Energy Jobs
Oil and gas companies worldwide are taking an axe to their employment rolls, shedding workers to survive what is expected to be a prolonged stretch of weak demand.Exxon Mobil Corp said it will cut its workforce by 15%, or about 14,000 people, along with oil majors Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.All told, more than 400,000 oil and gas sector jobs have been cut this year, according to Rystad Energy, with about half of those in the United States, where several big exploration companies and most large oil service companies are headquartered.Coronavirus has devastated swathes of the global economy…
Schlumberger CEO Says Oilfield Growth Will Be at Structurally Lower Rate
Top oilfield service firm Schlumberger NV expects to return to 2019 level pre-tax margins by the end of next year, a sign the oil industry faces a long-haul to recover from the latest oil-price crash.Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch told an energy conference on Tuesday that industry growth will be at a structurally lower rate in the future.
Saudi Aramco's Profit Plunges, Sees Signs of Recovery
State oil giant Saudi Aramco's profit plunged 73% in the second quarter of the year, as a slump in energy demand and prices due to the coronavirus crisis hit sales at the world's biggest oil exporter.But the company stuck with plans to pay $75 billion in dividends this year and CEO Amin Nasser said global oil demand was recovering.All major oil companies have taken a hit in the second quarter as lockdowns to contain the coronavirus limited travel, which reduced oil consumption and sent prices tumbling to levels not seen in nearly two decades.Aramco…
Chevron Diversity Ratio to Improve as Layoffs Progress
Oil major Chevron Corp expects to reduce the dominance of white males in company management during cost-cutting this year, upping the share of senior level jobs held by women and ethnic minorities to 44% from 38% last year, the company said in a statement.Like most of its peers in an industry struggling with the collapse of oil prices this year, Chevron is cutting spending, consolidating business units, and has asked some managers to reapply for their jobs.Figures from the end of last year show that less than a quarter of Chevron's U.S.
Oil Industry Veterans to Launch Hydrogen Investment Fund
Two energy industry veterans plan to launch an investment fund focused on hydrogen this year as more and more governments include the niche fuel in their global warming battle plans.Hydrogen has long-been touted as a potential clean fuel as it only emits water vapour but it has failed to gain traction, mainly because of historically high production, transportation and storage costs.But with the European Union for one now looking to promote so-called green hydrogen to help reach net zero emissions, the sector is expected to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in investment in the coming decades.The new fund…
Oil Extends Slump as Prospect of Second Viral Wave in U.S. Ends Rally
Oil prices fell on Friday, extending heavy overnight losses as a surge in U.S. coronavirus cases this week raised the prospect of a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak hitting demand in the world's biggest consumer of crude and fuel.West Texas Intermediate was down 65 cents, or nearly 2%, at $35.69 a barrel by 0358 GMT, after slumping more than 8% on Thursday. Brent crude was down 58 cents, or 1.5%, at $37.97 a barrel, having dropped nearly 8% the previous session.A rally that raised oil off April lows has come to a shuddering halt this week as the market faced the reality that the coronavirus pandemic may be far from over…
OPEC, Russia Extend Record Oil Cuts
OPEC, Russia, and allies agreed on Saturday to extend record oil production cuts until the end of July, prolonging a deal that has helped crude prices double in the past two months by withdrawing almost 10% of global supplies from the market.The group, known as OPEC+, also demanded countries such as Nigeria and Iraq, which exceeded production quotas in May and June, compensate with extra cuts in July to September.OPEC+ had initially agreed in April that it would cut supply by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) during May-June to prop up prices that collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis.
'This could be the one that gets me,' Says Oilfield Service Veteran
Tim Harris was preparing to relocate for an assignment with energy services firm Halliburton Co for the fifth time in 15 years when his career came to a halt.A third-generation employee, Harris rose through the ranks at the top shale-oil services provider to oversee oilfield crews. He sailed through several busts, with the exception of a 9-month break in 2016.But April's historic price crash, which has left U.S. crude prices down 50% since January, put him and tens of thousands of oil service veterans out of work.
Price Drop Triggers Haggling Over Oil and Gas Deals
The collapse in oil prices to 21-year lows has led potential buyers of oil and gas fields to try and renegotiate deals already agreed at higher prices, with the first examples emerging of sellers having their hand forced.At a time when most oil companies are slashing budgets, dividends, and headcounts to preserve cash, sellers are facing a difficult choice between sweetening the deal or risking losing it altogether.Premier Oil's CEO said he is seeking a cheaper price for North Sea assets it agreed to buy from BP…
Oil Prices Extend Gains on Demand Hopes as Lockdowns ease
Oil prices jumped again on Tuesday on hopes for a recovery in vehicle traffic and fuel demand as some European and Asian countries along with several U.S. states began to ease coronavirus lockdown measures.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 7.75%, or $1.58, higher at $21.97 per barrel by 0820 GMT. The U.S. benchmark has closed higher for the last four sessions.Brent crude futures were up 5.5%, or $1.49, at $28.69.Italy, Spain, Nigeria, and India, together with Ohio and other U.S. states, began allowing some people to go back to work and opened up construction sites…
OPINION: Drowning in Oil, Regulatory Measures to Keep Prices Afloat
These days history seems to be in the making on a daily basis. On April 20, 2020, the price of the NYMEX West Texas Intermediate Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures contract for May delivery plunged into the negative, forcing sellers to actually pay customers for taking the crude oil off the sellers’ hands. The historic drop came a little over a month after Russia and Saudi Arabia initiated crude oil price war, and it has left many wondering if certain regulatory measures are needed to help boost oil prices in the United States.
Angola Says Producer Cuts Insufficient, More Action Needed
Angola sees an oil production curb by OPEC, its allies and other top producers as insufficient to balance global markets, state news agency ANGOP quoted resources and petroleum minister Diamantino Azevedo as saying on Friday."It is up to everyone to understand that, despite the measures taken by OPEC, oil producers in various countries should be aware that they may be called to take more drastic measures," Azevedo said."Because of the lack of storage capacity, continued production is becoming unjustified," he added, referring to the strained ability of global oil consumers to store up unwanted oil amid economic lockdowns brought on by th
Nigeria: Union Suspends Strike after Exxon Workers Freed
A major Nigerian oil union has suspended planned industrial action after 21 Exxon Mobil Corp. employees quarantined last week after their arrest for violating coronavirus-related movement restrictions were freed, it said on Sunday.The governor of southern oil hub Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, on Friday said Exxon Mobil workers were arrested after entering the state from neighboring Akwa Ibom State in violation of an executive order restricting movement into the state as part of measures imposed last month.He said 22 workers…
Norway Deciding Whether to Cut Oil Output
Norway's oil minister reiterated on Tuesday that Western Europe's largest oil producer was soon to conclude whether to cut its output following historical curbs agreed by the OPEC+ group.Brent crude front-month contract fell to $18.10 a barrel on Tuesday, its lowest since December 2001, after U.S. May futures dropped to minus $40 a barrel on Monday due to worries about the novel coronavirus pandemic's impact on fuel demand."We have not yet concluded. It will happen soon," Oil and Energy Minister Tina Bru told journalists via video link.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies…
