Aker BP Cuts Dividend by Two-thirds on Oil Price Slump
Aker BP will cut its quarterly dividend payments by two-thirds due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the plunge in crude prices, the Norwegian oil firm said on Wednesday after reporting a better-than-expected first-quarter core profit.Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at $666 million…
U.S. Motorists React to Rising Pump Prices: Kemp
U.S. traffic volumes are levelling off in a sign the previous stimulus from cheap gasoline prices is fading as pump prices rise. The volume of traffic on U.S. roads was down by almost 0.6 percent in April compared with the same month a year earlier, after seasonal adjustments, according to statistics released on Monday.
For Big Oil, Reserve Size Matters Less Than Ever
Oil and gas reserves life falls below 12 years, lowest level in at least 20 years. A decade ago, the news that the world's top oil and gas companies had less than 12 years of production left in their reserves might have caused a panicked sell-off in their shares. But as consumers try to move away from fossil fuels to cleaner and cheaper energy sources…
U.S. Refiners to Export Gasoline as Domestic Demand Slows
U.S. gasoline consumption has levelled off as the stimulus provided by low and falling oil prices between 2014 and 2016 has faded, so refiners are increasingly turning to diesel and customers in emerging markets. U.S. gasoline consumption is forecast to rise by just 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2018…
OPEC Must Think About Exit Strategy: Kemp
Smoothly exiting from the current output pact, and perhaps replacing it with another agreement, has become the most important policy question for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. Under the current “declaration of cooperation”, issued in December 2016,…
Hedge Funds' Active Positioning in Crude Oil: Kemp
Hedge funds are some of the most important and dynamic participants in the oil market but public information on their positions and behaviour is severely limited. The only comprehensive information on hedge fund positions that is regularly available is contained within the commitments of traders reports published by regulators and exchanges.
Shell Approves New Gulf of Mexico Project
Royal Dutch Shell has given the go-ahead to develop its Kaikias deepwater field in the Gulf of Mexico, the first such project the oil and gas company has approved in 18 months. Oil companies around the world are emerging from one of the longest downturns in recent decades amid warnings that…
DCC to buy ExxonMobil's Norwegian Petrol Stations
London-listed DCC Plc said it would buy the retail petrol station network of ExxonMobil's Norwegian unit, Esso Norge AS, for 2.43 billion Norwegian crowns ($293.38 million). DCC, whose activities range from oil distribution to waste management, said the total consideration, along with the value of stock in tank at the date of acquisition…
Energy pipelines back in investor favor after Trump orders
Investors have rushed back into North American pipelines after U.S. President Donald Trump revived growth prospects in a sector that struggled to cope with a two-year oil price slump and strident opposition from environmental and Native American activists. Investor confidence in the industry…
Volatility and Cyclicality in Oil Prices - will this time be different? Kemp
Extreme volatility and strong cyclicality have been the defining characteristics of oil prices and the industry since the first modern oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859. Oil prices are much more volatile than the prices of manufactured goods or services, and in this they resemble other industrial and agricultural commodities.
U.S. Gasoline Consumption Growth to Slow in 2017
U.S. gasoline consumption has been growing at the fastest rate for more than a decade as lower fuel prices and an expanding economy have combined to produce a big increase in demand. OPEC is relying on continued growth in U.S. gasoline consumption, as well as other fuels, coupled with faster growth in demand from emerging markets…
DONG Energy to Exit O&G Business
Danish energy group DONG Energy plans to quit the oil and gas business to focus solely on offshore wind power, just five months after giving the impression it would maintain its presence in oil and gas when it listed in Copenhagen. The company, the world's biggest operator of offshore wind power…
Exxon Probe Faces Uphill Task
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman faces an uphill climb in building a case against Exxon Mobil Corp for not writing down assets amid the oil-price slump because of the broad leeway that energy companies have enjoyed reporting under U.S. rules, accounting experts said. Schneiderman…
Canada Trade Deficit Hits Near Record Despite Energy Export Jump
The value of Canadian energy exports surged in May even as the industry was coping with a major Alberta wildfire, but improved oil sales were not enough to prevent the second biggest trade deficit on record, Statistics Canada data showed on Wednesday. The C$3.28 billion ($2.52 billion) deficit…
US Offshore Regulator to Unveil Tougher Environmental Safeguards
The U.S. government agency created after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill plans in coming weeks to unveil tougher financial requirements for offshore oil producers aimed at protecting taxpayers from the risk of cleaning up abandoned oil rigs, an agency executive told Reuters. Under the new guidelines…
Trump Advisers Push OPEC and Regulatory Impacts
Two energy advisers to Donald Trump want him to call out members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for driving down world oil prices when he delivers a major energy policy speech this week. The advisers, who said they had been asked by Trump's 2016 presidential campaign to contribute ideas for the speech…
Petrobras Tests Investor Sentiment with $6.75 Bln Bond Sale
State-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA raised $6.75 billion on Tuesday through a sale of five- and 10-year dollar-denominated bonds, in a closely watched return to global capital markets after the suspension of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. The bond sale is the first by any Brazilian…
America's Newest Refinery Falls Victim to Oil Price Slump
The owners of a North Dakota refinery that was the first to be built in the United States since the 1970s have curtailed output and may try to sell it, the latest victim of the oil price slump roiling the energy industry. MDU Resources Group Inc and Calumet Specialty Product Partners LP, which jointly own the refinery…
Kinder Morgan Posts Lower Profit amid Oil Price Slump
U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc reported a lower first-quarter profit, hurt by a prolonged slump in crude oil prices. Net income available to shareholders fell to $276 million, or 12 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $429 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.
Noble Corp Slashes Quarterly Dividend
Rig contractor Noble Corp slashed its quarterly dividend to 2 cents from 15 cents, the second cut in six months. A prolonged oil price slump, of more than 60 percent since its peak in 2014, has forced many companies to slash or scrap dividends, lay off employees and cut executive pay. Noble had earlier in October cut its dividend to 15 cents from 37.5 cents.
