The two largest American oil companies reported their lowest profits of the first quarter in years on Friday, since they prepared for the economic consequences of President Trump’s commercial war, which has aroused consumer confidence and promoted oil prices.
American crude oil prices fell below $ 60 per barrel this week, a threshold below which many companies cannot earn money drilling new wells. Crude oil now costs around $ 20 per barrily barrel than it was just before Mr. Trump taught a position. Petroleum is not only getting less, companies are paying more for steel and other materials because the rates that the president has imposed.
There are signs that some companies are already being withdrawn as results.
From last week, the number of drilling platforms in the Permian Basin, the largest American oil field, Fallen had 3 percent in one month, according to Baker Hughes, a supplier of oil field services. The clients of that company have been postponing discretionary expenses, and it is likely that the expense throughout the industry falls this year, Baker Hughes executives said last week.
Chevron, the second largest American oil company, said months ago would spend less in 2025, and since then it has not changed its annual production or capital expenses forecasts.
“We feel comfortable with the place where we are now,” said Eimar Bonner, financial director of the company, in an interview. “We have sailed cycles before. We know what to do.”
The financial results that Chevron and Exxon Mobil, the largest oil and gas company in the United States, reported on Friday reflect the market before Trump announced its last round of rates. Almost at the same time, the members of the poster of the producers known as OPEC Plus surprised the market saying that its members would accelerate the plans to pump more oil.
The first quarter of Chevron’s first quarter fell more than a third to $ 3.5 billion, missing analysts’ expectations, since the company won less for each barrel of oil it produced. The lowest margins in the refining also harm the profits.
The Exxon gain of $ 7.7 billion in the first three months of the year also occurred to the analysts compiled by FACTSET. The profits fell around 6 percent compared to the previous year.
“In this uncertain market, our shareholders can trust that we are building for this,” said Darren Woods, Executive Director of Exxon, in a statement.
The question for many companies is how long oil prices will remain around $ 60 per barrel or less. If they are reduced to $ 50, national production could fall approximately 8 percent in one year, a global commodity insights s & p chord. The United States is the largest oil producer in the world.
Companies are reducing the costs where they can, while waiting for greater clarity on the commercial policy of the United States, said Joseph Esteves, executive director of Maine Pointe, a consulting firm that specializes in operations and problems of the supply chain.
“It is not reaching the point that there is no rock without moving, no unexplored sofa cushion,” said Mr. Esteves.
Mrs. Bonner said Chevron experienced a “limited direct impact” of tariffs. The company has been working to mitigate the effects buying supplies such as steel locally, he said.
Chevron faces a deadline of the end of May to reduce the activity in Venezuela after Trump took measures to reverse a Biden era policy that allowed to produce more oil in the country. The new rules are already having an effect. The company has not been able to load oil in the ships that will be exported due to changes in its license, said Bonner.
“We continue to commit to the administration on the subject,” he said.