Top 12 Listed Oil Giants Book Huge $20.6 Billion Loss In First Quarter

The 12 largest listed oil companies in the world booked a combined net loss of US$20.6 billion for the first quarter this year, compared to a collective net income of US$23.4 billion for Q1 2019, according to estimates of Anadolu Agency based on the companies’ results.

Anadolu Agency analyzed the financials of ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Shell, BP, Total, Eni, Equinor, and Rosneft, and found that these oil giants saw their combined revenues drop by 17 percent year on year to US$262 billion in Q1 2020, from around US$315.5 billion in revenues for Q1 2019.   

All oil firms suffered from the oil price crash in the first quarter of 2020 and some, like Shell and Equinor, even resorted to cutting dividends in response to the weak operating environment and uncertain recovery ahead.  

In absolute numbers, the biggest loss came from Baker Hughes which reported a net loss of U$10.21 billion for Q1 2020. A week earlier, the oilfield services giant said it expected to book a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of US$15 billion in Q1 and planned to slash capital expenditure (capex) by 20 percent this year in response to the crash in oil and gas prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

ExxonMobil reported on a surprise first-quarter loss on the back of hefty write-downs amid the oil price plunge, posting its first quarterly loss since the 1999 merger of Exxon and Mobil.   

The coronavirus pandemic will change the world and the oil industry forever, Shell said at the end of April as it slashed its dividend for the first time since World War II to preserve cash and value in a highly uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies around the world are set to see their total annual revenues plunge by a whopping US$1 trillion this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on global oil demand and prices, Rystad Energy said in an analysis at the end of April.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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