Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 22

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Cutting back, but looking to the future in North America
WTI prices have remained relatively stable above $30 per barrel in recent days, but this level is not high enough for many US pro- ducers. In one of the latest illustrations of the industry’s struggles, Occidental Petroleum announced on May 29 that it was cutting its dividend by 91%. This takes the company’s div- idend to $0.01 per share – the lowest level since at least the 1970s.
Occidental is struggling more than many thanks to the debt it took on last year to acquire Anadarko Petroleum in what proved to be an ill-timed bet on shale and rising oil prices.
It is not just smaller companies that con- tinue to struggle, though. Super-major Chevron announced on May 27 that it would cut its global workforce by up to 15%. This equates to around 45,000 employees. No further details of the lay- offs have been provided as yet.
Rival ExxonMobil said it had no plans to cut staff, but would nonetheless reduce its operating expenses by 15%.
The two super-majors held their annual meetings last week, and shareholders of both rejected resolutions calling for the companies to
set targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, among other measures. While Exx- onMobil and Chevron have generally been more resistant to such measures than their European counterparts, this leads to questions over how the oil market downturn could affect the pace of the energy transition.
Despite the broader slowdown in North America’s oil and gas industry, a new exploration prospect that could be targeted in future years has been identified.
Applied Petroleum Technology (APT) said it had conducted a detailed evaluation of the Southern Grand Banks petroleum system off- shore Eastern Canada for multiple clients. It reported that it had identified previously unrec- ognised Lower Jurassic source rocks and a genet- ically related set of oil shows.
However, the findings come at a time when oil companies are unlikely to be rushing to explore the waters off Canada – or indeed other offshore areas. If more exploration ulti- mately takes place, it will be some time from now.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the North American oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™
Super-major Chevron announced on May 27 that it would cut its global workforce by up to 15%.
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