Woodside Energy's earnings to drop as investors focus on strategic deals
Woodside Energy is Australia's largest independent gas producer and on course to report a decline in its interim earnings on February 2, with investors focused on the company's deal-making strategies after a failed $52 billion merger between Santos. According to Jarden's Visible Alpha consensus, Woodside, based in Perth, is expected to report a underlying net loss after tax of $1.11billion for the six-month period ended June. This compares to $1.90billion reported a year earlier.
U.S. Oil Firms' Quarterly Reports to Show Depths of Slump
Investors are in for more bad news on the energy front in the coming weeks as a host of the sector's biggest companies report quarterly results following the historic collapse in oil prices.Forecasts for U.S. energy sector earnings this year have dropped along with oil prices, weighing on shares along with worries over debt, layoffs and possible bankruptcies.Analysts see a 58.9% year-over-year decline in energy earnings for the first quarter, steeper even than the 37.7% decline they projected at the start of the month, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Algeria's 2017 Energy Earnings Soar
Algeria's energy earnings, the main source of state finances, rose 16.45 percent in 2017, helping to reduce the trade deficit by 34.4 percent, according to official figures reviewed by Reuters on Monday. The decline in the deficit pushed up the coverage of imports by exports to 76 percent, against 64 percent in 2016, customs data showed. Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 94.54 percent of total exports, stood at $32.86 billion in 2017, up from $28.22 billion the previous year.
Algeria Energy Earnings Up 18%
Algeria's energy earnings rose 18 percent in the first ten months of 2017, which helped reduce the trade deficit by 34 percent, official data showed on Monday. The deficit decline pushed up the coverage of imports by exports to 75 percent, from 63 percent in the January-October period of 2016, according to customs figures. Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 94.8 percent of total sales abroad, reached $27.18 billion in the first ten months of this year compared with $23.04 billion in the same period in 2016, due to higher global crude oil prices.
Algeria Plans Fuel Price, Tax Hike to Offset Fall in Energy Revenues
Algeria plans to raise prices of subsidised gasoline and diesel for a third straight year in 2018 to cut domestic consumption and imports at a time of growing pressure on state finances, according to an official document seen by Reuters. The government also plans to raise taxes and introduce new levies on local and imported goods such as tobacco next year as it seeks to diversify revenues from the economy due to a sharp fall in energy earnings, the document shows.
Sonatrach to Boost Output from Rhourde El Baguel Field
Algeria's state-run energy firm Sonatrach will boost gas output by 10 million cubic metres per day at its giant Hassi Messaoud field and will then increase output by 6 mcm a day at nearby Rhourde el Baguel oil field, its chief executive said. Sonatrach CEO Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, on a visit to the field, said Algeria could use boosting techniques to increase output at existing fields as the government looks to offset a fall in oil prices that has cut energy revenues.
Sonatrach CEO Urges Simplifying Business, Focus On Output
The new chief of Algeria's state energy company Sonatrach has urged employees to simplify bureaucracy, and focus on the core business of production as the North African state deals with lower oil prices, an internal company letter shows. The message from new CEO Abdelmoumen Ould Kadour was sent to Sonatrach employees just over a month after he took the job as the oil giant's sixth chief executive in seven years, a period marked by instability and a collapse in global crude prices.
Indonesia's Indorama Signs $4.5 bln of Algerian Phosphate Deals
Algeria signed deals with Indonesia's Indorama Corporation on Monday to develop a phosphate mine and build two plants to process the crop nutrient in the North African country at a total expected cost of $4.5 billion. The contracts are part of steps to develop Algeria's long-neglected mining sector and diversify the OPEC member country's economy away from oil and gas, after a sharp fall in energy earnings. Indorama signed the deals with state-owned phosphate companies Asmidal and Manal.
Algeria Jan-May Trade Deficit Up 35.5%
OPEC member Algeria's trade deficit reached $9.8 billion in the first five months of 2016, a 35.5 percent rise from the same period a year earlier, due to a decline in energy earnings after the oil price slide, official data showed on Monday. Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 93 percent of Algeria's total exports, dropped 37 percent to $9.13 billion in the January-May period, according to customs figures. The value of overall exports during the period declined 36.2 percent year-on-year to $9.82 billion, the figures showed.
Algeria to Reduce Imports As Oil Price Drop Bites
Algeria has decided to reduce its imports by 15 percent in 2016 to save foreign currency reserves as the crash of oil prices has put the OPEC state under financial pressure, according to a letter to banks from the prime minister. The North African state, which relies on oil and gas for 60 percent of its budget, has already cut public spending, reduced some energy subsidies and frozen infrastructure projects since its energy revenues fell by almost half last year.
Hit by Oil Price Drop, Algeria Turns to China for Funds
Algeria is turning to China to finance several infrastructure projects, including a new $3.2 billion port, as the North African OPEC member looks for ways to weather the collapse in global oil prices. Algeria, where oil and gas production account for 60 percent of the state budget, saw energy earnings collapse 40 percent last year, forcing the government to slash spending, raise some subsidised fuel prices and freeze major projects. With little foreign debt and more than $130 billion in reserves…
Algeria Swings Into Trade Deficit as Energy Earnings Fall
Algeria posted a trade deficit of $12.62 billion for the first 11 months of 2015, against a $5.45 billion surplus a year ago, after a 42.4 percent fall in energy earnings caused by the drop in crude oil prices, official data showed on Monday. Oil and gas exports, which account for about 94 percent of total sales abroad, tumbled to $32.36 billion in the first 11 months of 2015 from $56.2 billion a year earlier. The value of overall exports in the period declined by 41.9 percent year on year to $34.37 billion, while imports were down 12.45 percent to $46.99 billion.
Energy Stocks are Back - for Some on Wall Street
While many investors have been wary of taking chances on the battered energy space, a sizeable minority of Wall Street strategists are betting on a pickup in oil prices next year and recommending energy stocks. At least seven of 25 strategists in a recent Reuters poll cited energy as their contrarian pick for 2016 or said they expect an upside surprise from oil and energy in 2016. The integrated oil companies should do best, these strategists said, with…
Fortis Earn $ 151 mln in 3Q
Fortis Inc. released its third quarter results today. Driven by its U.S. utility acquisitions, completion of the Waneta Expansion, and strong results from its other utilities, Fortis' net earnings attributable to common equity shareholders were $151 million, or $0.54 per common share, and $145 million, or $0.52 per common share, on an adjusted basis. "All of our businesses contributed to our strong third quarter earnings," said Barry Perry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortis.
Lower Energy Exports Widen Algeria Trade Deficit
OPEC member Algeria recorded a trade deficit of $6.3 billion for the first five months of 2015, compared to a $3.44 billion surplus a year earlier, due to lower energy earnings after global oil prices slumped, official data showed on Tuesday. That pushed down the coverage of imports by exports to 71 percent, from 114 percent in the first five months of 2014. The trade deficit was $4.3 billion in the first four months of the year. Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 93.5 percent of Algeria's total exports…
Oil Drop a Mixed Blessing for US Corporate Results
The sharp decline in oil prices has taken a toll on earnings estimates for the U.S. energy sector, but investors expecting a benefit to other sectors of the market may be disappointed, Thomson Reuters research shows. Certain retailers have shown improvement in results as fuel costs have declined, while industrials and materials companies tend to show their results decline even as energy prices fall. Airlines, generally thought of as a possible beneficiary of lower fuel costs, show little correlation between that decline and their results, Thomson found.
Algeria First-Half Trade Surplus Down
Algeria's trade surplus in the first half of 2014 fell to $3.89 billion from $4.83 billion a year earlier, mainly because energy earnings fell 2.30 percent, official data showed on Monday. Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 96 percent of total sales abroad, declined to $32.23 billion from $32.97 billion in the first six months of 2013, according to customs figures. The value of total exports fell 1.60 percent to $33.59 billion. Imports rose 1.30 percent to $29.69 billion, the data showed. (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by Larry King)
