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Saudi OSPs will set the trend for the month’s $1.1bn and $8.3bn respectively. For ExxonMobil,
prices throughout the Gulf, so much will depend this was the second consecutive quarterly loss
on what happens in the next day or two. after decades of profits. Chevron’s loss, mean-
As producers turn the pumps back on, Kuwait while, was its largest in recent history, exacer-
Oil Co. (KOC) is preparing a tender for 24 new bated by $5.6bn worth of oil and gas production
rigs to help achieve the country’s ambitious write-downs.
crude output capacity targets. The news follows Canadian producers were not spared either,
our recent coverage of production ramping up to with Imperial Oil, ExxonMobil’s subsidiary
75,000 bpd at the Lower Fars Heavy Oil Project north of the border, and Husky Energy among
and the departure of the first cargoes of crude. those reporting second-quarter losses over the
Meanwhile, news emerged this week that past week.
Occidental Petroleum was in advanced talks However, some bright spots also emerged,
with Pertamina over the sale of assets in Ghana as US oil prices continued to hold steady above
and the UAE. The US firm has been considering $40 per barrel and a number of the companies
asset divestments to ease its debt burden follow- reporting their results also said they were in the Oil production
ing the $37bn acquisition of Anadarko last year. process of restoring output they curtailed during
the second quarter. from OPEC
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Among these was ConocoPhillips, which
the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click said it expected to have most of its curtailed member states
here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor. output restored by the end of September, hav-
ing cut about a third of its production in April has increased by
Quarterly losses mount in North America and recently started ramping it back up. And in 1mn bpd
Second-quarter losses being announced by Canada, Husky said it had the capacity to ramp
North American producers have continued to up production over the course of the current
pile up in recent days. Virtually no company is quarter.
expected to emerge unscathed from the quar- In other welcome news, the total US rig count
ter, which likely saw the worst of the oil and gas stayed flat in the week up to July 31, having
downturn. Notable names joining the growing declined for the previous 20 weeks. The loss of
ranks of those reporting second-quarter losses one active oil rig was offset by the addition of a
over the past week have included ConocoPhil- gas rig. The rate of rig count declines has slowed
lips, the US’ largest independent producer. On in recent weeks, but while market conditions are
an adjusted basis, excluding special items, the improving, producers may be hesitant to ramp
company posted a loss of $1.0bn compared with up new drilling too quickly.
an adjusted profit of $1.1bn in the same quarter
of 2019. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
US-based super-majors ExxonMobil and the North American oil and gas sector then please click
Chevron also posted rare losses, which reached here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor . ™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 31 06•August•2020