Royal Dutch Shell Takes The First Step, Focus Shifts To Exxon Mobil

This article was first published by Seeking Alpha on April 9, 2015

By Sarfaraz A. Khan. Research Asst. Elena Kaufmann

Royal Dutch Shell Takes The First Step, Focus Shifts To Exxon Mobil

This article was first published by Seeking Alpha on April 9, 2015.

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

Low Oil Prices Will Catch Up With Exxon's Fourth-Quarter Results

This article was first published by TheStreet on January 26, 2015

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Exxon Mobil  (XOM - Get Report) , the largest U.S. oil and gas producer by market cap and output, dodged the oil price bullet when it reported 3% year-over-year earnings growth in its third-quarter results back in October. But the Irving, Texas-based company won't be so lucky next week when it reports its fourth-quarter results.

BP Could Be Up for Grabs, but Who Can Buy the British Oil Behemoth?

This article was originally published by TheStreet on November 14, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan. Research Asst. Omer E. 

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As mergers and acquisitions go, the energy industry has seen some of the biggest, from the $80 billion merger between Exxon and Mobil in 1998 to the $15.1 billion takeover of Canada's Nexen by China's CNOOC (CEO) in 2012. With the recent double-digit drop in crude prices, another acquisition could be on the horizon, this time, of European oil giant BP (BP) .

Chevron Refining Unit Saves It From the Oil Price Monster, for Now

This article was originally published by TheStreet on November 8, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The refining business of the oil behemoth Chevron (CVX) has turned out to be a promising hedge in a period of deteriorating oil prices, which was evident in its latest quarterly results.

But that may not continue if oil prices go back up or if the lower prices remain for a prolonged period of time.

Why Exxon Mobil's Exit From California Could Be Great for Investors

This article was originally published by TheStreet, and also appeared on Yahoo Finance, on September 24, 2014.

By Sarfaraz A. Khan 

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Exxon Mobil (XOM) is reportedly preparing to sell its only oil refinery in California, following similar divestitures by BP (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A)  , and that's good news for investors of the Irving, Texas-based energy major.

That's because Exxon Mobil's plant was a "disadvantaged refinery" for the company, due to its small size and lack of petro-chemical integration or lubricants production, Oppenheimer senior analyst Fadel Gheit told TheStreet in an email. Gheit explained that "it doesn't fit [with] Exxon Mobil's downstream strategy, which is focused on larger, more complex integrated refineries with crude flexibility and petrochemical manufacturing."

These U.S. Energy Stocks Might Get Trapped in Ukraine Conflict

This article was originally published by TheStreet on July 18, 2014.

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Obama administration Wednesday announced its largest package yet of economic sanctions against Russia, hitting the country's biggest oil producer Rosneft (RNFTF_) and other energy firms in a move that could also wind up hurting U.S. energy companies that operate in the region.

Exxon Mobil Goes Where Few Oil Giants Tread

This article was originally published by TheStreet on July 3, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

 

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The U.S. oil behemoth Exxon Mobil (XOM_) revealed Wednesday that it has decided to invest more than $1 billion in its refinery in Antwerp, Belgium, even as others flee the continent's ailing refining sector.

 

That is because America's biggest oil company is eyeing a European revival several years down the road.

How Asia's LNG Sector Will Drive Exxon Mobil's Growth

This article was originally published by TheStreet, and also appeared on MSN Money, on April 23, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Exxon Mobil (XOM_), America's biggest energy company, is expanding its footprint in Asia's liquefied natural gas, or LNG, market.

The oil behemoth's LNG project in Papua New Guinea, or PNG, is nearing completion in June, four months before originally planned. Exxon Mobil has already contracted more than 95% of the supplies to four Asian buyers. Moreover, the Asian market-focused Gorgon LNG project in Australia, in which Exxon Mobil holds a minority stake, could also come online by 2015.

Should Investors Be Worried About Chevron’s Profit Warning?

This article was originally published by GuruFocus on April 10, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan. Research assistant: Gohar Yousuf

Yesterday, America’s second biggest oil and gas company Chevron (CVX) issued a profit warning for the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Does this mean that the investors should start panicking?

Exxon Mobil Might Struggle, But Not For Long

This article was originally published by GuruFocus on March 31, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

Earlier in January, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded Exxon Mobil (XOM) to neutral from buy which caused a dip in the oil giant’s shares. Just two days ago, Bank of America made another change by upgrading Exxon Mobil to buy with a price target of $110. As a result, Exxon Mobil’s shares have risen by more than 3% since Thursday and closed at $97.70 on March 28.

Exxon Mobil’s investors would welcome the recent rally as it comes after the company revealed that it would reduce its capital expenditure by 6% and was expecting flat production for the current year to $39.8 billion. ... read full article at GuruFocus

Chevron Tries to Build Value as It Cuts Costs

This article was originally published by TheStreet on April 1, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan. Research assistant: Gohar Yousuf

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Chevron (CVX_) has cut its 2017 production forecast by 6% to 3.1 million barrels per day. You'd think that means bad things ahead for the second-largest U.S. oil company.

However, the company thinks it can boost its value to shareholders through a combination of lowering  capital expenditures by 5% and higher production through five major projects that could come online within the next two years.

China's Oil Majors Could Move to Acquire This Australian Energy Giant

The European oil major Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) has recently revealed that it plans to sell nearly $15 billion of its assets as the company requires an additional $55 billion in the next two years for investment in some of its major projects. Although Shell did not specifically mention the kind of assets it could be selling, but it’s an open secret that the oil giant’s $6.4 billion stake in Woodside Petroleum (WOPEY) could be up for grabs. Shell holds a 23% stake in Woodside Petroleum, which is Australia's second biggest oil and gas producer, as Shell’s management no longer feels that Woodside Petroleum is aligned with its long-term growth strategy.

Shell seems to have two options:

1. It can sell its stake back to Woodside, or other institutional investors.

2. it could sell this to Chinese oil majors, such as the offshore giant CNOOC (NYSE:CEO) or China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (NYSE:SNP), popularly known as Sinopec .... read full article at GuruFocus

Shell Way Ahead of the Crowd

This article was originally published by TheStreet.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- From Exxon Mobil's  (XOM_) venture into the semi-autonomous region of Iraq to Chevron's  (CVX_) ambitious Gorgon liquified natural gas project in Australia, the leading global oil and gas companies are known for taking big risks by betting on projects that are far too challenging for mid-cap energy companies.

One such company -- European oil giant Royal Dutch Shell  (RDS.A_) -- is leading the industry in the development of floating liquefied natural gas, or FLNG, technology.

Earlier this month, Shell moved one step closer to its FLNG ambitions when it moved the enormous 1,600-foot hull of its FLNG vessel, called Prelude, out of the dry dock. Through this facility, which came with a price tag of around $11.7 billion, Shell will be able to tap into offshore projects that are otherwise too costly to develop.

Shell plans to use this massive vessel to tap into the growing demand for LNG from Asia. Shell's FLNG vessel is nearing completion while its competitors are still in the early stages of development. In terms of FLNG, Shell is way ahead of the crowd.

Natural gas, unlike coal, is the cleaner alternative for power generation. To ship this gas, companies must chill the gas to hundreds of degrees below zero. This process turns the gas into liquid (called LNG) as its volume shrinks by 600 times, which makes it easier to ship the fuel to far-off places. Traditionally, this is done on land through conventional LNG plants.

Through its FLNG project, however, Shell aims to take both production and processing operations to deep sea.

A FLNG vessel can be a cost-effective alternative to .. read full article at TheStreet

Why Investors Should Not Be Worried About Chevron's Massive CapEx

By Sarfaraz A. Khan and Gohar Yousuf

One of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, Chevron (CVX) has been spending enormous amounts of cash on some of its biggest projects to ramp up its production of oil and gas. As a result, the company has not returned as much cash to shareholders, through dividends and buybacks, as they would have liked. Following the global financial crisis, investors have favored companies with attractive dividends and buyback programs, as opposed to companies like Chevron, who invest in their long term future. This is one of the reasons why this oil giant’s shares have remained under pressure, despite having attractive long term growth prospects.

Going Over the Budget
In its most recent quarterly results, Chevron reported a 25.6% year-over-year increase in capital and exploration expenses to $10.59 billion. A significant portion of this increase was attributed to the company’s operations in the international markets, where its spending grew by 28% to $7.84 billion. In the U.S, Chevron spent around $2.7 billion, showing an increase of 18% from the same quarter last year. Overall, in the first nine months of the current year, Chevron has... read full article at GuruFocus

Exxon Mobil Has Underperformed - But Can It Still Boost Shareholder's Value?

From Seeking Alpha

 

The world's leading energy firm Exxon Mobil (XOM) recently released its quarterly results, which came in well below the market's expectations. Exxon Mobil's earnings growth has not been spectacular, its stock generates lower yield than its competitors, and its buyback expenditure has been falling. In these tough times, what should Exxon Mobil do to increase the shareholder value?

Quarterly results

Exxon Mobil's net income dropped by 56.9% to $6.9 billion from $15.9 billion in the same quarter last year. Excluding one-time items, the net-earnings fall was 18.4%. The oil giant's revenue fell from $127.4 billion last year to $106.5 billion in Q2-2013.

Earnings from the upstream segment in the U.S. increased by 61.6% but decreased by 32% in international markets. On the other hand, downstream earnings fell significantly in the U.S. and international markets. In chemicals, there was a slight increase in the U.S. earnings but a significant decline in the rest of the world.

The company's earnings growth over the years is shown in the picture below. As evident, the EPS growth has been modest at best, particularly since Q2-2010 ... Read More

Shell Outpaces Exxon in Iraq

From The Motley Fool, Published May 24, 2013

According to Iraq’s oil minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi, the country has 150 billion barrels of oil reserves, and this doesn’t include resources from the autonomous Kurdish region and other additional deposits. The country most likely has more than 200 billion barrels of total reserves. The British oil major BP thinks that the country has the world’s fifth largest reserves. However, its production has lagged far behind other oil producing nations, particularly during the Gulf War when its output fell dramatically. However, with the help of the leading oil firms from the U.S, Europe and China, such as ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A)and PetroChina (NYSE: PTR), the country has been looking to change its fortunes, despite the immense political hurdles.

Exxon Brings Russia's Rosneft To Alaska

From Seeking Alpha

The Russian energy giant Rosneft (RNFTF.PK) and the world's biggest oil and gas firm Exxon Mobil (XOM) have signed another arctic exploration agreement through which Exxon Mobil will get an additional 234,000 square miles of oil and gas exploration in the Russian arctic, while a separate agreement gives the Russian firm a 25% stake in Point-Thomson natural gas field. The two agreements were signed in a high profile ceremony at Moscow between Stephen Greenlee, Exxon's President, and Igor Sechin, Rosneft's President in the presence of Russia's President Vladimir Putin. The new deals … read more
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