The oil majors have shown strong growth in Q1 with significant earning boosts across the board helped by rising oil prices.
ExxonMobil's earnings climbed a massive 69% year-on-year to $10.7bn for Q1 2011 lifted by a 10% increase in oil production. There was a 14% increase in capital and exploration expenditure and the company says it remains on target to invest between $33-37bn annually for the next five years to develop new supply sources.
Q1 upstream earning increased by $2.8m to $8.7m with crude and natural gas realisations boosting earnings by almost $2.6bn. Highlights for the first part of the year also included record chemical earnings of $1.5m helped by improved margins; the launch of a new well containment rapid response system from the part-owned Marine Well Containment Company and the official opening of the Shanghai Technology Centre which will support Exxon's chemical operations in China and the Pacific region.
Royal Dutch Shell saw a 30% leap in Q1 earnings at $6.3bn against $4.8bn for the same period in 2010 and $4.1bn in the previous Quarter. The company continues to rationalise the business, with the sale of $3.2bn-worth of non-core assets, with more to come over the next 12 months. The improved figures were helped by a 5% uplift in chemical sales, although oil and gas production fell slightly against last year by 3%.
There was good news for BP as well, despite the continued cost impact of the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill. Q1 net profits saw a 17% improvement at $7.1bn from a little over $6bn in the same period last year, and $5.5bn in the previous Quarter. With profits adjusted to include the costs of the spill, now estimated by BP at $41.3bn, there was a 2% reduction against last year at $5.5bn.
Although the company's Q1 oil and gas production dropped by 11% to 3.58m b/d, group sales were boosted by rising oil prices and rose by 19% to $88.3bn. Asset sales also helped to lift the revenue figures.
Despite the current spat between BP and its subsidiary TNK-BP, the Russian company still managed to turn in a massive $2.44bn net income, nearly doubling its Q1 figures from the previous year. The rise in oil prices, combined with increased output and access to new territories all helped the company thrive despite its boardroom difficulties.