The amount of the loss refers only to the 2nd quarter of 2020. The catastrophic results were announced by the five largest oil companies: British BP, American Chevron and Exxon Mobil, Anglo-Dutch Shell and French Total
The free fall in the oil market was largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The front page article of the French newspaper Le Monde, this Wednesday, spells out the “catastrophic losses” of the five largest international oil companies: 45 million euros only in the 2nd quarter of 2020.
Results that were announced by the industry giants at the end of July , the British BP, the American Chevron and Exxon Mobil, the Anglo-Dutch Shell and the French Total. Containment measures have drastically reduced travel and economic activity and, therefore, fuel consumption.
To this has been added, since March, a price war between two major oil powers, Russia and Saudi Arabia, which suddenly decided to increase their production. In this context, and according to Le Monde, all companies announced cuts in their investments, in licensing plans (less 10,000 licenses for BP) and in the sale of certain assets.
During 2020, approvals for new oil and gas projects are expected to fall by 75% compared to 2019, according to the Rystad office quoted by the French newspaper.
OPEC predicts the biggest annual drop
Meanwhile, and in this context of crisis, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) predicted today that the annual fall in oil consumption may be greater, now advancing a forecast of 9.09%, compared to the 8.03% that it had anticipated a month ago.
This review is attributed to a halt in economic activities in some countries during the second quarter, greater than initially estimated due to the covid-19 pandemic, OPEC indicates in its monthly report.
