Profits drop for E/A Bidders

[Tree]

French oil major sees lower earnings in upstream and refining

France's Total has reported a 10% drop in net profit year-on-year to €2.76 billion ($3.77 billion) in the third quarter on sales down 6% to €46.68 billion.

The explorer said the fall was “mainly due to a lower contribution from upstream, which reflects an unfavourable production mix and higher exploration charges, and a lower contribution from refining and chemicals, partially offset by robust performance in marketing and services”.

The Paris-headquartered oil major said that while Brent prices inched up 1% year-on-year to average $110.30 in the third quarter, the European refining margin indicator tumbled by 79% to $10.60 per tonne over the same time-frame.

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell saw profits fall during the third quarter as upstream expenses rose and production fell.

The company posted a third quarter profit of just under $4.7 billion, down 35% on 2012's nearly $7.2 billion profit during the same quarter.

The fall in profits came despite revenue rising 3.9% to $116.5 billion, compared to the $112.8 billion generated a year earlier.

Hitting the company's bottom line however was a 29% fall in earnings from its upstream business segment to just under $3.3 billion.

Exploration expenses for the quarter rose to more than $1.6 billion, compared to just $713 million in the third quarter of 2012, mainly related to exploration well write-offs.

[ebster123]

Gee, guess they need cheaper NG....PNG!!!

[Tree]

Gee, guess they need cheaper NG....PNG!!!

Yes T, that is the crux.  Rexxon needs cheaper NG as will in PNG.

Continued lower LNG price pressure by JP and SK which ,are the LNG import market, requires lower gas acquisation  costs.  PNG LNG xpansion economics vs. Gulf LNG greenfield economics may yield both projects.  Knda looks that way.

"Third quarter earnings were $7.9 billion, down 18% from the third quarter of 2012. Production of oil and natural gas increased from a year earlier as new projects were brought on line and maintenance-related downtime decreased. Significantly weaker refining margins as a result of increased industry capacity negatively impacted ExxonMobil’s Downstream earnings."

Third Quarter 2013 XOM Earnings Conference Call Thursday, October 31, 2013 10:00 a.m. CT

Event Details Title Third Quarter 2013 XOM Earnings Conference Call Date and Time Thursday, October 31, 2013 10:00 a.m. CT   Join David Rosenthal, Vice President - Investor Relations and Secretary, for a discussion of Third Quarter 2013 financial and operating results via audio webcast at 10 a.m. CT on October 31.

Japan's higher gas demand for power and a tighter LNG global supply market over the past few years has led to a significant increase in LNG import prices, from $9/MMBtu before the crisis to over $16/MMBtu in 2012. Japan, along with other Asian LNG consumers, is negotiating lower prices for LNG contracts that historically have been linked to international crude oil prices. Oil prices in the past few years have remained at all-time high levels for Asian buyers, causing Japanese utilities, particularly those affected by the Fukushima accident, to incur serious expenses from higher gas and oil purchases, resulting in net revenue losses. In response to the rising fuel acquisition costs and attendant power price increases, METI is encouraging electric utilities to negotiate LNG prices to be equal to or lower than the previous deal before they can pass on higher fuel costs to their power consumers. Japanese companies are beginning to negotiate for LNG prices that move away from a tight link to crude oil prices to those that are based on lower U.S. gas market prices......

JOGMEC announced in 2013 that it will guarantee 75% of the bank loans to Japanese companies involved in developing LNG projects that help reduce Japan's import fuel cost. The projects must demonstrate lower rate compared to Japan's average LNG import costs from the previous year. METI is considering a similar program by providing a $10 billion fund for loan guarantees to LNG projects.