Big Oil quarterly earnings in the Covid-19 age

The first Big Oil quarterly earnings season in the age of the coronavirus or Covid-19 global pandemic has gone revealing profit slumps, capex and opex cuts, job losses and much upheaval. Selected reports on the financials by the Oilholic are listed below, with links:

• Profits Slump 67% At BP But Oil Major Maintains Dividend Despite Coronavirus Downturn, Apr 28
• ExxonMobil Follows BP In Maintaining Dividend But Shell Cuts As Oil Crash Bites, Apr 30
• Shell Cuts Dividend By 65% On ‘Prolonged’ Oil Market Uncertainty, Apr 30 
• Oil Giant Total Maintains Dividend Despite ‘Exceptional’ 35% Plunge In Profits, May 5
• Oil Major Equinor Suspends 2020 Guidance Following 51% Slump In Earnings, May 7
• Saudi Aramco Keeps Record $18.75 Billion Dividend Payment Intact Despite Profits Slump, May 12

Some key themes to emerge were: 

(1) Universal profit slumps, excepting Chevron which bucked wider quarterly trends, 

(2) Around $60 billion in cost cuts instituted by the biggest 20 IOCs, and 

(3) Shell's first dividend cut since the Second World War. 

A more detailed summary for Forbes on what we can learn from Q1 2020 figures for is here. But that's all for the moment folks. Keep reading, keep it 'crude'!

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© Gaurav Sharma 2020.

To RDSA or RDSB - that's the question?

A number of readers - with interest in Royal Dutch Shell shares - often write to the Oilholic asking which of its listings, RDSA or RDSB, should they opt for? Short answer, if you are based in the UK, is RDSB, as the A listing carries an exposure to the Dutch taxman. It will eat into you dividend earnings unless you happened to be based in the EU27. 

That matters because the Anglo-Dutch oil giant is a reliable dividend stock, and has not failed to pay an annual dividend since World War II. Here is the Oilholic's more detailed explanation on Forbes outlining which listing you should buy in to depending on where you are based, once you have made your mind up about investing in Shell. Just a quick quip, more later! Keep reading, keep it crude!

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