As the world’s biggest oil companies published their audited financial statements for 2020, the true picture of the impact of the coronavirus pandmic takes shape. And it is a depressing one.
The biggest oil companies in the world, including international oil companies, Saudi Aramco, Russia’s top oil producers, and the top oilfield services providers, saw their combined revenues fall by 35.4 percent to US$1.3 trillion in 2020 from US$2.02 trillion in 2019, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.
The agency analysed the financial statements of the 14 biggest firms— ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Shell, BP, Total, Eni, Equinor, Lukoil, Rosneft, and Saudi Aramco.
Shell’s revenues dropped the most—by 48 percent—while BP, Aramco, and Exxon all saw their respective revenues fall by more than 30 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the data pulled by the Anadolu Agency.
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The oil price and demand collapse last year hit all oil companies’ revenues and earnings, as both the upstream and downstream divisions suffered from the pandemic-driven crisis. Some posted historic losses as they also wrote down the value of their resources.
ExxonMobil, for example, booked its first annual loss since the 1999 merger of Exxon and Mobil, and the first annual loss in at least 40 years after the pandemic crushed oil demand and prices and led to a huge domestic gas asset impairment.
BP also posted a massive loss of US$5.7 billion in 2020, compared to a US$10-billion profit in 2019.
Total reported a net loss of US$7.2 billion for 2020, down from a profit of US$11.27 billion for 2019, and said it will change its name to TotalEnergies to reflect its shift to renewable energy.
Shell managed to turn a profit last year, but it was down by a massive 87 percent compared to 2019.
Saudi Aramco’s net profit slumped by 44 percent year over year to US$49 billion for 2020, but it kept its US$75 billion annual dividend, most of which goes to the biggest oil firm’s majority owner with 98 percent, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
