Oil majors' second quarter figures head South.
The second Quarter of 2013 as proved a gloomy one for the world's oil majors. In a report that shocked city analysts, Shell reported its second-quarter adjusted income at $4.6 billion, more than $1bn lower than the same period in 2012. Markets had been forecasting a slight increase of around $100m. Shell’s Chief Executive, Peter Voser has cited problems in Nigeria as being the source of the figures.
Shell also announced that Ben van Beurden will succeed Peter Voser as the head of the organisation, when Voser steps down on 1 January 2014.
ExxonMobil earnings also saw a dramatic fall at $6.8bn, down $9bn, or 57%, from the second quarter of 2012. Divestments and tax-related items have wiped out a prior year net gain of $7.5bn.
Capital and exploration expenditures were $10.2bn, up 10% from the second quarter of 2012, in line with anticipated spending plans.
BP's profits were also down from first quarter figure of $16.8bn to $2bn but did manage an improvement on last year's second quarter figure of $1.5bn. There was a similar pattern to the replacement cost profit figures - down from Q1s $16.6bn to $2.4bn this quarter. Despite this, the numbers for the first half still showed a significant year-on-year improvement at $19bn against last year's $4.8bn.
All amounts relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are being treated as non-operating items in the report, having a pre-tax impact of $209m for the Quarter and $241m for the first half of 2013.
There was disappointment, too, for Chevron Corporation which reported earnings of $5.4bn for the second quarter 2013, compared with $7.2bn for the same period in 2012. Sales and other operating revenues in the second quarter 2013 were $55bn, $5bn lower than the previous year.
Chairman and CEO John Watson said, “The decrease was largely due to softer market conditions for crude oil and refined products. Earnings were also reduced as a result of repair and maintenance activities in our U.S. refineries.”
In line with ConocoPhillips' prediction of a drop in output due to project maintenance and preparations to boost oil and gas production, its net income also dropped to a little more than $2bn from $2.2bn in 2012.
The company's second-quarter results don’t include earnings from refining, chemical and pipeline assets that were spun off to form Phillips 66 in 2012, but were compared with a month of such results in the year-earlier period.
Phillips 66 itself fared no better, with a second-quarter profit fall to $958m from $1.1bn last year. The company said earnings declined "mostly as a result of the significant reduction in advantaged crude discounts" and "unplanned downtime" for its chemicals and refining operations.
Total's net income followed a similar downward trend at €2.7bn ($3.6bn) showing a three percent drop on last year. This left a first half result of €5.6bn ($7.5bn) equating to a five per cent year-on-year drop. Sales for the French company were down four percent on last year's second quarter at €47($63m).