Global oil and gas companies are reducing their spending plans to deal with the oil prices slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic and Saudi Arabia’s push to increase oil output. Producers in North America have slashed their 2020 capex by approximately 30%. Below are some plans announced by major oil producers:
Chevron Corp, which has an organic capex guidance of $20 billion said it would shed spending and reduce oil output in the near term.
Eni also reduced investment significantly. The Italian company canceled a plan to repurchase $433.84 million of shares this year. It will reconsider a buyback when Brent reached a level of at least $60/barrel.
Norway’s Equinor also canceled a share buyback and postponed a project in Canada.
ExxonMobil said it would cut spending significantly. Its 2020 budget stands at a range of $30 billion to $33 billion.
Saudi Aramco said it would cut capex to between $25 billion and $30 billion this year, from $32.8 billion last year.
Shell cut 2020 capex by $5 billion on Monday. The Anglo-Dutch company also suspends a share buyback.
France’s Total said it would cut this year’s organic capex by over $3 billion, mostly in exploration. The company also aims at saving $800 million in this year’s operating expense and suspends a $1.5 billion share buyback plan.
Wintershall said it would lower 2020 investment plans to between $1.3 billion and $1.7 billion. It also delays its dividend for an unspecified period of time.
