China National Petroleum Corp., the country’s biggest oil and gas producer and the parent of PetroChina Co., said profit fell 52 percent as lower oil prices punished global explorers.

Profit last year fell to 82.5 billion yuan ($12.7 billion), the Beijing-based company said in a statement on its website Wednesday. The unlisted, state-owned company didn’t specify whether the profit is pretax, gross or net. Revenue fell 26 percent to 2 trillion yuan, while oil and gas output rose 1.8 percent to 259.5 million metric tons, it said.

“We properly dealt with all the risks and challenges and steered the company from the model of chasing speedy expansion to a model focusing more on quality growth,” Chairman Wang Yilin said in the statement.

CNPC owns oil and gas assets in politically unstable areas, including Sudan, and controls 86 percent of the listed company. PetroChina’s net profit tumbled 67 percent to 35.5 billion yuan in 2015, the lowest since 1999, the company said last month. Brent crude averaged $54 a barrel last year, from $99 the year before.

CNPC’s proved oil reserves reached 730 million tons and natural gas reserves were 570 billion cubic meters at the end of last year. Total pipeline length reached 80,000 kilometers (49,720 miles). The company employs 1.52 million people.

Wang said last month the company won’t cut frontline oil and gas workers as it seeks to reduce costs to cope with low energy prices. CNPC was also said to be among the few state-owned companies selected for reform to become a strategic holding company.

Domestic crude production reached 111.4 million tons (about 2.24 million barrels a day), accounting for 52 percent of the country’s total, according to the company. Domestic natural gas output reached 96.5 billion cubic meters, about 73 percent of the nation’s total.

CNPC sold 116.3 million tons of oil products last year, 40 percent of the country’s market share. Domestic natural gas sales rose 2.6 percent to 122.6 billion cubic meters.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-27/china-s-biggest-oil-company-posts-52-decline-in-2015-profit

Russia's second-largest natural gas producer Novatek overcame Western sanctions to deliver stronger net profit in the first quarter by selling a stake in an LNG project to a Chinese fund and improving domestic gas sales.

Novatek, which is under a Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis, has been struggling to raise funds for its $27 billion Yamal LNG project and turned to China for investment partnerships and loans.

The company said on Wednesday it had completed the sale of a 9.9 percent in Yamal LNG, which is due to start production of liquefied natural gas next year, to China's Silk Road Fund in March.

Novatek said that including the deal, first-quarter net profit reached 115.9 billion roubles ($1.8 billion). Excluding the Yamal LNG stake sale, first-quarter normalised net income jumped by 87.4 percent to 58.2 billion roubles ($893 million).

Revenue was up 22.5 percent to 139.4 billion roubles, largely due to an increase in sales of liquids, mainly crude oil and gas condensate.

The company has increased its share of the Russian gas market as, unlike its competitor state-owned gas giant Gazprom , it is able to cut its prices.

Novatek, in which France's Total has an 18.2 percent stake, said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), including its share in joint ventures, increased by 13 percent to 62.1 billion roubles.

The company's other key shareholders are Gennady Timchenko and Chief Executive Officer Leonid Mikhelson.

Novatek's shares were 0.3 percent higher at 1200 GMT, outperforming the Moscow broader stock market.

http://www.reuters.com/article/novatek-results-idUSL5N17U2W6

Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil and gas explorer, reported a 31 percent decline in first-quarter revenue amid a crash in crude prices to the lowest in 12 years.

Oil and gas sales dropped to 24.6 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) in the three months ended March 31, the Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday. Cnooc, which gets almost all of its income from oil and gas production, doesn’t report quarterly profit.

Cnooc’s average realized oil price fell 39 percent to $32.54 a barrel in the first quarter. Brent oil, the global benchmark, averaged about $35 a barrel in the first quarter, from about $55 a year ago. Prices hit a 12-year low in January.

Output rose 5.1 percent to 124.3 million barrels of oil equivalent from a year earlier, according to the statement.

Cnooc’s annual production overtook China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. in 2015 to become the country’s second-biggest oil and gas producer as the offshore explorer pumped about 496 million barrels of oil equivalent, compared with its state-owned peer’s 472 million barrels. Cnooc’s output may slip to 470 million to 485 million barrels this year as the company takes measures to control operational costs.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-28/cnooc-1st-quarter-revenue-drops-31-after-crude-hits-12-year-low

A Turkish state-backed energy firm is in talks to invest in Genel Energy's two big gas field developments in Iraqi Kurdistan, which would also include a pipeline to connect them to Turkey, company and industry sources said.

London-listed Genel is one of the main oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan and last year cut its production forecasts because of low oil prices. In March, it reported its biggest ever annual loss after downgrading its oil reserves.

Genel is hoping that connecting the gas field developments - Bina Bawi and Miran - to Turkey will provide it with a major growth opportunity.

Genel is currently in talks with TEC, a joint venture that includes the international arm of state-owned Turkish Petroleum, to invest in the development of the fields, a pipeline into Turkey as well as storage facilities, according to several sources involved in the talks.

"They want to invest in the entire value chain of the project," one source said.

Genel has made no secret of plans to bring in a partner for the project. The company hopes to complete the negotiations with the partner by the end of the year, Chief Executive Officer Murat Ozgul told reporters at the company's annual general meeting in London on Wednesday. He did not name the partner.

http://www.reuters.com/article/genel-energy-gas-turkey-idUSL5N17U4KB

Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Inc (BHI.N) said on Wednesday it expects U.S. rig count will begin to stabilize in the second half of this year, while the rig count globally will drop steadily through the end of the year.

However, the company, which also reported a bigger first-quarter loss, said it does not expect drilling activity in the United States to increase meaningfully this year, even if the rig count held steady.

Baker Hughes said it expects the current-quarter rig count in North American to fall 30 percent from the previous quarter, while the count globally would be limited by fewer new projects.

"During the quarter, the industry faced another precipitous decline in activity, exceeding even the most pessimistic predictions, as E&P companies further cut spending in an effort to protect cash flows," Chief Executive Martin Craighead said in a statement.

Baker Hughes, whose shares were down nearly 4 percent in premarket trading, also said revenue in North America declined 59 percent the latest quarter, steeper than the 41.9 percent drop in total revenue.

Baker Hughes, which is to be bought by bigger rival Halliburton Co (HAL.N), also reiterated that their merger agreement would not terminate automatically if regulatory reviews extended beyond the deadline of April 30.

Baker Hughes said it was retaining costs in its operating profit margins as required by the merger agreement. Halliburton had said it reduced the infrastructure it had been maintaining in anticipation of the merger as it saw "no scenario in the current market where we need this additional infrastructure".

Halliburton had postponed reporting its full results to May 3 from April 25 to accommodate the deadline. The deal has run into regulatory snags, with the U.S. Department of Justice suing to block the deal earlier this month.

Baker Hughes, which will get $3.5 billion from Halliburton if the deal is not cleared by regulators, said the two companies may continue to defend against the lawsuit and seek relevant approvals, or terminate the agreement.

Net loss attributable to Baker Hughes widened to $981 million, or $2.22 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $589 million, or $1.35 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 41.9 percent to $2.67 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $2.85 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

North America revenue accounted for about 30 percent of total revenue.

http://www.reuters.com/article/baker-hughes-results-idUSL3N17U3ZB

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Attached Files

Singapore rig-builder Sembcorp Marine's quarterly profit halved as customers deferred projects, and it faces prolonged uncertainty on contracts from its biggest client, Sete Brasil, whose shareholders have approved its bankruptcy.

Sembcorp Marine posted a profit of S$55 million ($41 million) for the three months ended March 31, compared with a profit of S$106 million a year ago.

Sembcorp Marine and its cross-town rival Keppel Corp have been hit by slumping orders as oil prices dropped nearly 60 percent since mid-2014.

Exacerbating the situation are troubles at Sete Brasil, a company set up by corruption-battered Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras). The graft scandal and recession have crushed popularity for President Dilma Rousseff, who is facing ouster.

Sete Brasil's shareholders last week voted to allow it to seek bankruptcy protection. It has paid neither Sembcorp Marine nor Keppel since late 2014.

Both companies have said provisions taken last year for those contracts are currently sufficient, while Sembcorp Marine started arbitration proceedings against subsidiaries of Sete Brasil, from which it has won orders worth $5.6 billion.

"For Sete Brasil, there is going to be a lot of unknowns such as the ongoing political scandal there, I doubt anything will be done this year. So the arbitration can just drag on for a while," Joel Ng, an analyst at KGI Fraser Securities, said before the results were announced.

ORDER BOOK

A collapse of Sete Brasil would be devastating not only for the investors that backed the project but for dozens of local suppliers. More than 800,000 local shipbuilding jobs could be lost, triggering $10 billion in losses, industry estimates show.

"In Brazil, the political upheavals remain unabated, with the ongoing process to impeach the Brazilian President," said Sembcorp Marine's chief executive, Wong Weng Sun.

"Such development and the deteriorating economy have contributed to the ongoing volatility and uncertainty of the situation in Brazil."

SembCorp Marine, a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Sembcorp Industries, posted quarterly revenue of S$918 million - a drop of about 30 percent from a year earlier. Its order book stood at S$9.7 billion at the end of the quarter.

The company's cashflows have come under pressure as customers delay taking deliveries of their projects, hurting its gearing levels, analysts said.

Earlier this year, Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported the parent may inject funds into SembCorp Marine or buy full control to replenish finances.

http://www.reuters.com/article/sembcorp-marine-results-idUSL3N17U3GW

Exxon Mobil Corp raised its quarterly dividend by 3 percent on Wednesday, a day after Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. oil and gas company citing its generous payouts to shareholders.

It was the smallest increase since at least the first quarter of 2006, when the dividend rose 10 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The downgrade of the oil giant was the first by S&P in more than 70 years. It was flagged by the ratings agency last week and did not come as a surprise Wednesday morning as Exxon's board met to approve the dividend increase and review quarterly results, which are set to be released on Friday.

The board had halted a massive share repurchase program on Feb. 2, the same day S&P warned publicly a downgrade was possible. The repurchase program had dwarfed the dividend payout for years, and its cancellation was the first sign by Exxon's board of less-generous remuneration to shareholders.

Exxon has raised its dividend each of the past 34 years. The increase this year came as the company and its peers are fighting the perception they spend too much on shareholders and not enough strengthening its balancing sheet and building oil reserves.

Filings with U.S. regulators show that at a combined $325 billion in dividends and repurchases, Exxon's spending on shareholders in the last 11 years has exceeded by nearly 20 percent its outlays of $271.7 billion for new property, plant and equipment over the same period.

S&P on Tuesday cut Exxon's top-tier credit rating by one notch to "AA+" from "AAA," saying it was concerned the world's largest publicly traded oil company would rather enrich shareholders than cull debt.

Exxon raised its payout to 75 cents from 73 cents. The dividend will be payable on June 10 to shareholders of record as of May 13.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-dividend-idUSKCN0XO2E6

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Attached Files

                                             Last Week     Week Before   Last Year

Domestic Production '000........ 8,938               8,953            9,373

http://ir.eia.gov/wpsr/overview.pdf

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged over 15.8 million barrels per day during the week ending April 22, 2016, 257,000 barrels per day less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 88.1% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.5 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging over 4.6 million barrels per day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 7.6 million barrels per day last week, down by 637,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports averaged over 7.7 million barrels per day, 1.2% above the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 898,000 barrels per day. Distillate fuel imports averaged 207,000 barrels per day last week.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 2.0 million barrels from the previous week. At 540.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are at historically high levels for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels last week, and are well above the upper limit of the average range. Finished gasoline inventories decreased while blending components inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 1.7 million barrels last week but are well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories rose 2.3 million barrels last week and are above the upper limit of the average range. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 5.2 million barrels last week.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.0 million barrels per day, up by 4.0% from the same period last year. Over the last four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 9.4 million barrels per day, up by 5.6% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged about 4.0 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, down by 0.1% from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied is down 0.5% compared to the same four-week period last year.

Cushing inventory up 1.7 mln bbl's

http://ir.eia.gov/wpsr/wpsrsummary.pdf

Canadian oil and gas producer Suncor Energy Inc said on Wednesday it has agreed to pay about C$937 million to acquire an additional 5 percent stake in its Syncrude oil sands joint venture from Murphy Oil Corp's Canadian unit.

The deal would increase the company's share in Syncrude to 53.74 percent, Suncor said in a statement.

Together with Suncor's acquisition of Canadian Oil Sands in March, the company's production capacity would increase by 17,500 barrels per day of high-quality light sweet synthetic crude, Suncor Chief Executive Steve Williams said.

Murphy Oil said in a statement it expected the deal to close at mid-year.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syncrude-m-a-suncor-energy-idUSKCN0XP00L

U.S. oil producer Hess Corp (HES.N) reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as cost cuts helped offset the impact of lower oil prices.

Hess, like other oil producers, has slashed its capital budget and curtailed production plans after a more-than 60 percent drop in oil prices CLc1 eroded profits.

The company's oil and gas production inched slightly lower to 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first quarter, from 355,000 boepd a year earlier.

Hess, which produces oil in North Dakota's Bakken Shale and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, said average realized price for crude fell 36.8 percent to $28.50 per barrel in the quarter.

Net loss attributable to Hess widened to $509 million, or $1.72 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $389 million, or $1.37 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a loss of $1.83 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue fell about 40 percent to $993 million.

http://www.reuters.com/article/hess-results-idUSL3N17U3VJ

Noble Corp Plc's quarterly profit plunged 41 percent, coming slightly below analysts' expectations, hurt by lower demand for rigs as oil prices hover around decade lows.

The prolonged slump in oil prices has led to a steep decline in drilling activity, mainly in the offshore market, as oil and gas producers cut costs.

Noble's average rig utilization fell to 79 percent in the first quarter ended March 31 from 86 percent, a year earlier.

Average day rate, the amount an oil and gas company pays per day for a rig, fell 15.5 percent to $287,169.

The net profit attributable to Noble fell to $105.5 million, or 42 cents per share, while operating revenue declined nearly 24 percent to about $612 million.

Excluding items, the company earned 31 cents per share, missing the average analyst estimate of 33 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-noble-corp-results-idUSKCN0XO2OP