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.
Canada's benchmark TSX index edges up on oil gains and local acquisitions
Canada's benchmark stock index edged up slightly on Monday, as calm returned to the market after a turbulent week. However, rising tensions in Middle East and the upcoming U.S. data this week kept investors on the edge. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed at 22,406.31, up 95.01, or 0.43%. Two major acquisitions in Canada also contributed to the increase. On Monday, oil prices surged to $80.06 per barrel amid fears that tensions in the Middle East may escalate and lead to a wider conflict.
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…
BP Spurs $10 Bln Divestment Target
BP will take charges of $2 to $3 billion in the third quarter, the British energy firm said on Friday, as it looks to reach divestments worth $10 billion by the end of 2019, a year ahead of schedule.In a statement, London-based BP said it expects to agree asset sales of $10 billion by end-year after its $5.6 billion sale of its Alaskan business to Hilcorp and divestments in U.S. shale gas.BP shares were down 1.1% by 0948 GMT compared with a 1.3% gain in the broader European energy index.The non-cash…
Oil Search Boss to Retire in 2020
Papua New Guinea's biggest company Oil Search Ltd said on Tuesday long-serving Managing Director Peter Botten will retire from the firm next year after 25 years in the role, just as the company enters a major growth phase in PNG and Alaska.Botten will be succeeded by senior executive Keiran Wulff in February and will step down from the board on Aug. 25."Under his leadership, Oil Search has grown from a small exploration and production company to a regionally significant oil…
Battered U.S. Oil Producers Soar on Saudi Attacks
Shares of U.S. oil and gas companies surged on Monday, as a jump in oil prices in the wake of attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities drove a relief rally in one of the S&P 500's worst performing sectors this year.Shares in major energy conglomerates including Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp jumped nearly 3%, while some of this year's weakest performers saw huge gains: Chesapeake Energy Corp was up 17%, Denbury Resources up 26% and California Resources up 15%.Oil prices at one point surged nearly 20%…
Hess Corp Posts Smaller Quarterly Loss
Hess Corp reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday, helped by lower exploration costs and a surge in output in its Bakken shale and Gulf of Mexico assets that also prompted the company to raise its 2019 production forecast.The company also cut its full-year spending plans by $100 million to $2.8 billion against the backdrop of increased investor pressure to boost shareholder returns.Hess' shares rose 6.3%…
Oil Prices Jump 2% After Tanker Attacks
Oil prices settled 2.2% higher on Thursday after attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman stoked concerns of reduced crude trade flows through one of the world's key shipping routes.The attacks near Iran and the Strait of Hormuz reignited worries about an impact to flows from the Middle East if insurance companies begin to reduce coverage for voyages through the region and additional shipping companies suspend new bookings…
Rice Brothers Push for Top-level changes at EQT
EQT Corp is facing calls for a shakeup at the helm from shareholders Toby Rice and Derek Rice, who had sold Rice Energy Inc to the oil and gas producer last year for $6.7 billion.In a letter made public on Monday, the Rice brothers, who own about seven million shares or a 2.75 percent stake in the company, pointed to EQT's "severely depressed" stock price and blamed the management for underperformance.EQT shares have slumped 47.6 percent as of Friday's close since the acquisition of Rice Energy in Nov.
BP Pays $10.5 bln for BHP Shale Assets
BP Plc has agreed to buy U.S. shale oil and gas assets from global miner BHP Billiton for $10.5 billion, expanding the British oil major's footprint in some of the nation's most productive oil basins in its biggest deal in nearly 20 years.The acquisition of about 500,000 producing acres marks a turning point for BP since the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, for which the company is…
ConocoPhillips Profit Tops Estimates on Rising Oil Prices, Cost Cuts
ConocoPhillips, the world's largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company, posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by rising crude prices and cost cuts.Results at Conoco, like many of its peers, have steadily improved in recent quarters alongside commodity prices and as better technology makes operations more efficient.Also, Conoco's stock has risen as the company has prioritized cost cuts and asset sales over production increases.
Shell Bets on Petrol Stations as Electric Revolution Looms
Shell to build 10,000 new petrol stations by 2025 with China, India and Mexico as primary growth targets. Royal Dutch Shell is placing a big bet on petrol stations and convenience stores in China, India and Mexico as it looks to shore up profits during the electric car revolution. By 2025, the oil and gas giant plans to grow its global network of roadside stations by nearly a quarter to 55,000, targeting 40 million daily customers, Shell said in a statement on Wednesday.
Some Investors Sense Opportunities in Big Oil
Link between oil prices and energy stocks disrupted; uncertainty remains over crude revival, electric car effect. Investors are gaining confidence - up to a point - that 2018 will be the year of oil stocks. While shares in top energy companies have risen since mid-2017, they have failed to keep step with recovering crude markets, opening up a historically unusual performance gap. Big oil stocks have also underperformed broader equity indexes.
Oil Search Profit Soars, Now Focusing on Gas Projects
Oil Search sees PNG LNG expansion agreement by late 2017. Australia's Oil Search Ltd reported a five-fold jump in half-year profit on higher oil and gas prices and lower costs, and said it expects its partners to agree by year-end on how to coordinate development of their Papua New Guinea gas projects. Net profit surged to $129.1 million for the six months to June, in line with three analysts' estimates, while the oil and gas explorer boosted its dividend by a cent to 4 cents a share.
US Shale Output Poised to Keep Rising Despite Investor Concerns
Shale production in the largest U.S. oilfield should rise by as much as 300,000 barrels per day by December, according to updated forecasts following the industry's latest quarterly results. The higher outlooks, amid worries the recent breakneck pace of gains may not be sustained, come on the heels of one high-profile Permian Basin producer's oil output miss last quarter and decisions by several other energy companies to trim annual budgets.
Eoltech Wins Repeat Contracts
Wind energy consulting firm Eoltech announced that it won contracts from major French customers to deploy IREC-Index. With this advanced multi-source wind energy index, Eoltech will aim to refine the monitoring of 24 wind farms in France, representing a total output of 500MW. IREC-Index will enable Eoltech’s clients to check the consistency of their fleet’s output against the available wind resource to detect potential turbine performance discrepancies.
Options Bulls Betting on U.S. Energy Rebound
Some U.S. equity options traders are betting that the recent rebound in the price of crude oil spells good news for the battered energy sector. The S&P energy index is still down about 9.9 percent this year, making it the second worst-performing sector among S&P's tracking indexes. That contrasts against the broad benchmark S&P 500 stock index, which is up 6.9 percent for the year. Recent trading in the options market…
Trump's Win Revives Keystone XL Discussion
Republican Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election cheered investors in Canadian energy producers eager to revive the stalled drive to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, giving oil sands crude better access to U.S. markets. President Barack Obama denied a permit to TransCanada Corp's proposed cross-border Keystone XL pipeline last year. In May, Trump said that if elected, he would "100 percent" approve Keystone XL…
NY Investigating Exxon's Accounting Practices
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating Exxon Mobil Corp's accounting practices and why the company hasn't written down the value of its assets despite a steep drop in oil prices, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A more than 60 percent plunge in oil prices since mid-2014 has forced oil producers worldwide to write down the value of their assets. In a note earlier this month…
Junk Energy Firms Still Have Market Access
Some energy companies still have access to the US high-yield market despite concerns that the dip in oil prices to around US$40 a barrel could create more stress in the troubled sector. Bankers who have been talking regularly to energy firms said at least a dozen companies are in a position to raise debt to refinance bank loans or existing bonds in coming months. One banker said the next primary deal in the sector could come as soon as next week if conditions remain supportive.
