Solstad Offshore ASA, a supply vessel company controlled by Kjell Inge Roekke, will merge with rival Rem Offshore ASA in the latest deal orchestrated by the Norwegian billionaire to take advantage of the collapse in crude prices. Aker ASA, Roekke’s holding company, last week blocked a Rem restructuring plan through a stake in the company’s bonds.... Continue Reading →
Pemex Posts 15th Straight Quarterly Loss as Oil Output Slumps
Petroleos Mexicanos lost money for the 15th consecutive quarter as a cash injection from the government wasn’t enough to overcome the pinch of record-low crude output, refinery upsets and a petrochemical plant explosion. The second-quarter loss narrowed to 83.5 billion pesos ($4.42 billion), from 84.6 billion pesos during the same period a year earlier, according to... Continue Reading →
Goldman Sees Oil Hurt by Dollar Gain, Not Gasoline Glut
Ignore the gasoline glut, a stronger U.S. dollar presents the most risk to oil prices in the near term, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Further dollar strength on economic uncertainty outside the U.S., along with a potential interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve could push oil prices lower, Goldman analysts including Damien Courvalin said... Continue Reading →
Total Profit Beats Estimates as Cost Cuts Deepen Amid Slump
Total SA said profit fell 30 percent in the second quarter, beating analysts’ estimates as deeper cost cuts and rising production helped the French company offset the slump in crude prices and strikes at its domestic refineries. Adjusted net income was $2.17 billion in the period, compared with $3.09 billion a year earlier, the company based... Continue Reading →
Shell Earnings Tumble to 11-Year Low on Oil, Weaker Refining
Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported the lowest quarterly earnings in 11 years and missed estimates by more than $1 billion as a mix of lower energy prices, weaker refining margins and production halts weighed on Europe’s largest oil company. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes sank 72 percent from a year earlier to... Continue Reading →
Statoil Suffers Surprise Loss Amid Collapse in Oil Prices
Statoil ASA deepened spending cuts after Norway’s biggest oil producer reported an unexpected loss amid lower crude prices and taxes on unprofitable international operations. The adjusted loss after tax, which excludes financial and other items, was $28 million in the second quarter after a profit of $929 million a year earlier, the Stavanger-based company said Wednesday.... Continue Reading →
Anadarko Loss Narrower Than Expected as Driller Cuts Costs
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. posted a loss that was narrower than expected for the second quarter as it cuts costs and sells assets to weather the oil industry downturn. The loss was $692 million, or $1.36 per share, compared with a profit of $61 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier, the Woodlands, Texas-based company said... Continue Reading →
Special Report: In Venezuela’s murky oil industry, the deal that went too far
Even for Venezuela's notoriously opaque economy, it was a sweetheart deal that went too far. Last August, state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA issued one of its largest tenders in recent years: a multi-billion dollar project in the Orinoco Belt, the world's largest crude reserve. The project was designed to shore up the OPEC... Continue Reading →
BP Profit Sinks as Lower Oil, Weak Refining Strain Industry
BP Plc posted a 45 percent slump in earnings, pointing to a poor set of results from the industry as oil production barely breaks even and profits from refining sputter. The U.K. company, the first oil major to report second-quarter results, said adjusted profit dropped to $720 million from $1.3 billion a year earlier, missing... Continue Reading →
Brazil Banks’ Lower Provisions Seen Masking Credit-Quality Woes
Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Banco Bradesco SA and Brazil’s other major banks are expected to post their first quarter-over-quarter decline in bad-loan provisions in at least a year when they report results in coming days. The good news will probably be short-lived. Provisions jumped in the first quarter as banks took into account the looming... Continue Reading →
