Page 4 - NorthAmOil Week 18 2021

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

First-quarter results

illustrate recovery

Results for the first quarter of 2021 for super-majors

and independents alike show the industry’s recovery

from the worst early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

US THE results for the first quarter of 2021 are being recent quarterly losses.
announced, and in the US – as well as elsewhere ExxonMobil reported a profit of $2.7bn for
WHAT: – they point to an ongoing recovery. This is the first quarter of 2021, compared with a loss of
Super-majors Chevron unsurprising, given that it was in the first quar- $610mn in the same quarter a year ago.
and ExxonMobil and ter of 2020 that a lot of oil and gas companies “The strong first-quarter results reflect the
various independent US started taking drastic steps to curtail production benefits of higher commodity prices and our
producers have posted as countries around the world went into lock- focus on structural cost reductions, while pri-
improved results for the down in response to the coronavirus (COVID- oritising investments in assets with a low cost
first quarter of 2021. 19) pandemic. of supply,” said ExxonMobil’s chairman and
Thus, with vaccinations being rolled out and CEO, Darren Woods. “Cash flow from operat-
WHY: restrictions easing, demand was set to pick up. ing activities during the quarter fully covered
Oil prices have However, a number of producers have exceeded the dividend and capital investments, and we
strengthened and the analyst expectations with their first-quarter per- strengthened the balance sheet by reducing
roll-out of vaccinations is formance, and even with COVID-19 continuing debt.”
helping the US to reopen to pose a threat to the recovery, oil prices remain The company reported $9.3bn worth of cash
despite ongoing COVID-19 relatively strong. flow from operating activities and said it had
uncertainty. The trend of improving performances looks driven debt reduction of over $4bn during the
set to continue into the second quarter, and will quarter.
WHAT NEXT: be all the more apparent when compared with ExxonMobil’s first-quarter production was
The improvement in the second quarter of last year, when the pan- 3.8mn barrels of oil equivalent per day, up by
performances appears demic’s impact on demand and the resulting 98,000 boepd or 3% sequentially, but falling
set to continue in the curtailments to production were at their most somewhat short of 4.0mn boepd of output a
second quarter of this pronounced. year ago.
year. Chevron, for its part, reported a profit of
Back in profit $1.4bn, which fell short of a profit of $3.6bn a
A notable result came from US-based super-ma- year ago, but marked a turnaround from a loss
jors ExxonMobil and Chevron, with both post- of $665mn in the fourth quarter of 2020.
ing a profit for the first time after a string of “Earnings strengthened primarily due to

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