Earnings

ExxonMobil is shutting in 100,000 boe/d in the Permian Basin and dropping the rig count to 15, down 75%, but some oil and natural gas demand appears to be gradually increasing worldwide, a sign that Covid-19 may not suppress consumption for too long.

Continued strong production in the Permian Basin helped drive Chevron Corp.’s first quarter earnings higher. But the San Ramon, CA-based major said production would drop with planned curtailments, and it warned that distressed market conditions imposed by coronavirus fallout necessitated further budget cuts and could depress future earnings.

Cheniere Energy Inc. said Thursday it earned $53 million in first quarter revenue from customers that canceled liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes and elected to pay fees as global prices cratered and demand eroded from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is buttressing against an uncertain outlook for global oil and natural gas demand this year after profits were decimated in the first quarter by the impact of Covid-19.

Denver-based Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. is expecting to see “very little” completions activity through the rest of the year across North America as Covid-19 continues to consume energy demand.

Denver-based SM Energy Co., whose Texas-centered operations plow the Eagle Ford Shale and Midland formation of the Permian Basin, said Wednesday it has reduced spending and activity to the rest of the year, with guidance uncertain because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) has yet to see a “material change” to volumes across its system, but given the “highly uncertain” impacts of the coronavirus for the remainder of 2020, it has reduced planned growth capital investments by $1 billion and sustaining capital expenditures (capex) by $100 million.

London-based BP plc, kicking off quarterly results for the supermajors, saw its profits drained by two-thirds from a year ago as the impact of the coronavirus took a big bite out of the bottom line.

Portland General Electric (PGE) is cutting capital investments by $175 million and expecting more pressure in the months ahead, but the utility’s 1Q2020 financial results avoided negative economic impacts of the coronavirus lockdown.