so if u were me, u will choose the new company?

‘Big Oil’ cuts US$20 billion in five hours to preserve dividends

Posted on January 31, 2015, Saturday





ROYAL Dutch Shell Plc will cut US$15 billion of investment over the next three years as the crash in oil prices saw fourth-quarter profit miss forecasts.

Shell, the first of the world’s largest oil companies to report earnings following the slump in crude to a five-year low, will defer or cancel about 40 projects worldwide, chief executive officer Ben van Beurden said yesterday.

Exploration will also be curtailed.

“We see pressure on our investment program,” van Beurden said on Bloomberg TV.

“It’s a game of being prudent but at the same time not overreacting.”

Profit excluding one-time items and inventory changes was US$3.3 billion in the quarter, up from US$2.9 billion a year earlier, Shell said yesterday.

That missed the US$4.1 billion average of 13 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Shell shares dropped 4.3 per cent to 2,060 pence at the close in London, the biggest decline since Oct 31, 2013.

The global industry is scurrying to respond as oil below US$50 a barrel guts cash flows.

Occidental Petroleum Corp and ConocoPhilips also announced lower spending today.

BP Plc has frozen wages and Chevron Corp delayed its 2015 drilling budget. By cutting investment, companies aim to protect returns to investors.

Iconic Item Shell, based in The Hague, will pay an unchanged quarterly dividend of 47 cents a share and repeat the same payment in the first quarter and possibly for the rest of the year.

The yield stands at 5.7 per cent.

The payout is an “iconic item at Shell, I will do everything to protect it,” the CEO said in the television interview.

In addition to the US$15 billion of cuts in planned spending over three years, Shell warned there could be more to come should crude prices remain relatively low.

“I don’t want to get into a panic, slash and burn response that we will later regret,” he said at a press conference.

Fourth-quarter oil and natural-gas production fell one per cent to 3.213 million barrels of oil equivalent a day due to the loss of a license in Abu Dhabi and security issues in Nigeria.

Refining Results A fall in earnings from the upstream part of the business, pumping oil and gas, was offset by better results in refining and chemicals.

Shell, which was forced to issue a profit warning a year ago, is expected to be the only large oil company to report a gain in fourth-quarter profit.

“Shell widely missed expectations in upstream, particularly in the Americas, but performed well in downstream – a key cushion for integrated oil companies in a declining crude price environment,” said Kim Fustier, an analyst at Edison Investment Research.

Shell missing expectations by about 20 per cent “doesn’t bode well for competitors.”

ConocoPhillips, the third-largest US energy producer, reported its first quarterly loss since 2008 and has announced spending cuts.

Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s largest oil company by market value, reports earnings on Monday.

Shell accelerated asset sales and cut spending even before the slump in oil prices.

The Anglo-Dutch company axed a US$6.5 billion petrochemicals plant in Qatar this month and said it’s selling a stake in an oil-producing project offshore Brazil amid declining output and higher costs to extract the crude.

Asset Sales Asset sales could slow in 2015 in part because potential buyers may have trouble getting funding amid the crude slump, Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said.

“There is no fire sale,” he told reporters.

Average Brent crude prices in the quarter fell 30 percent from a year before to US$77 a barrel.

This month the benchmark extended its decline, touching US$45.19 a barrel on Jan 15.

While declining to speculate about where crude prices are headed, van Beurden warned that canceling or delaying too many projects could risk putting in jeopardy supply over the longer term.

Shell’s like-for-like capital spending will be lower than last year, according to today’s statement.

That number, which doesn’t include acquisitions, was US$35 billion last year and US$38 billion in 2013.

Shell has slowed deepwater projects and will be considering whether to push ahead with chemical plants in Pennsylvania and China, Majnoon in Iraq and LNG projects in Canada and Australia, van Beurden said.

It may exit some unconventional projects.

Spending on exploration will be held steady this year at around US$4 billion, a budget that includes an increase in Alaska and a drop in conventional exploration outside of the US to less than US$3 billion, Henry said.

This has already meant deferring drilling plans in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore China and Malaysia.

‘Hard choices’ A year ago, when oil prices were above US$100, Van Beurden pledged to make “hard choices” on new projects, sell US$15 billion in assets over 2014-2015 and slow investment growth.

More than 30,000 dismissals have been announced across the oil industry as companies shrink budgets, according to a tally by Bloomberg News.

Exploration and production spending will fall by more than US$116 billion, or 17 per cent, on weaker oil revenues, according to an estimate from Cowen & Co. — Bloomberg


Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/01/31/bi.../#ixzz3R2yBf700

Encik yakup i have a few question that i want to ask you in private . is it okay with you?

Hello everyone i am very new in the oil and gas industry. My company is currently on the process of changing from a full trading company to a simple servicing company. As their newly appointed engineer i am suppose to propose what possible services the company should try to venture (not highly risky scope). To be honest i do not have any experiencein oil and gas industry but i was wonderig if i could go for any training attachments sobthat i could learn and be expose to the nature of oil and gas industry. I know this is difficult to answer but browsing through the list of services confuses me and i wonder where i should start.

I hope seniors here could advice on what i should learn and do.

u with Fluor now eh, often saw Fluor contractor around here, but not Gebeng

(^__^)

I am no longer with Petrofac.

Which project? RAPID Pengerang? MARLIN?

Ayam with Lemongrass liao

So many young blood eager to jump into O&G but never think the long effect on their health.... For example like mine as per link... Lulz...

http://instagram.com/p/yxz6GetPjz/

Hi bro, please take good care of yourself.. we love you.
But hypertension is also because of the job? Too much OT and not enough rest?

in-house sub con for Shell, alot of contractor, Fluor is one of them.

(^__^)

1 year already want to lompat

I believe you should jump if you can gain further experience like I said before preservation is really just one part of mechanical engineering. And stuck in piping preservation.....yuck

Although kencana is still a very good training ground.

This post has been edited by BillySteel: Feb 8 2015, 12:51 AM

Shell PD expansion? Or Shell MDS Bintulu expansion?

Floor only involved in Shell PD's latest hydro treater project.
SMDS already got Pearl GTL.

Really, I generally thought that companies only emphasize on years of working experience we have, and our ability in handling various projects, before promoting us to higher position. For Ir. title, it may be important, as having several professional engineers may enhance the CV of personnel submitted for the award of a project. Plus, the AFC drawing may need Ir. stamp to be valid.

Master degree? I do not think that companies would value on-paper knowledge, citing that these theoretical knowledge is too idealistic to be applied in real life offshore challenges. Thus, for companies, the Master degrees is not important, unless the research topic for Master degree is really relevant to company's area of interest.

Oil and gas experts, feel free to correct me, if I am wrong. I am more than willing to learn from you all, and this has been a useful forum thread for all.

This post has been edited by alvinkhorfire: Feb 8 2015, 06:00 AM

Seems that you really know Fluor very well Are you residing at Intermark or Manila office? Dont forget to say holla to me via Sametimes

Everything... working condition, cuaca, asyik teringat bini jauh (I just get married last december on christmas day), workloads, project deadline, rindu 18 ekor kucing kesayangan kat rumah, rindu my mom, rindu my friends at Bintulu...

Hey Mr BillySteel! Nice to see u again. I remember u did reply my question 1 years ago in this thread.
ya. unfortunately, I got a very limited job scope even though SKPB is quite a good training ground. No choice I believe leaving here is better.

Just I am not sure the new sub con company which doing gas metering is good for me or not. the company name is elster-instromet.
forgive my indecisive.

Know them thru my relative. But work quality are very bad if compare to WH group. Sand inside the pipe

What do you mean by work quality? For which project? EPCM is different in nature compare to other EPCC/EPCIC contracting. What is WH group?

WH group is Wong Hing group or Warga Hikmat, very popular company for sub con works. Their price are always higher, next will be PEC which is quite good also.
As said, Floor project in Shell is only the hydro treater.