SOME OF the world’s biggest oil companies are reporting third-quarter earnings this week, with investors’ attention likely to be focused on whether they are managing to raise their production.
BP, the UK oil group, will kick off the European reporting season tomorrow.
Its clean replacement cost profit, a measure that strips out the value of oil and gas inventories, is expected to be $4.9 billion, a decline of 11 per cent on the same period the year before.
Production for the quarter is expected to reveal a drop of 12 per cent year on year, according to JPMorgan Cazenove.
Also tomorrow, BG Group, the FTSE 100 oil and gas company, is expected to report that production has been affected by extensive North Sea maintenance activities.
Analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove expect no production growth compared with the same period last year.
Consensus numbers for the third quarter are for operating profit of $1.89 billion compared with $1.67 billion year on year.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest international oil company, on Thursday is forecast to report net income of €6.5 billion, up from €4.93 billion on the third quarter of 2010.
On the same day, ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil group by market capitalisation, also reports earnings.
These are are expected to be about 5 cents below the second-quarter of $2.18 a share, but up 48 per cent on last year’s third quarter.
On Wednesday ConocoPhillips, which is splitting itself in two – one company for oil and gas production, another for refining and marketing – is similarly expected to report earnings up 45 per cent from the equivalent quarter of 2010 at $2.19 a share, but down 9 per cent from the second quarter of 2011. – Copyright The Financial Times 2011
