Exxon Chevron Next Up – US-FOREX.US
Steep second-quarter profit declines aren’t over yet for the oil sector as Exxon Mobil reports second-quarter results on Thursday and Chevron releases its second-quarter report on Friday. By now the market is well-versed in the difficult year-over-year comparisons plaguing oil companies so far. During 2008′s second quarter crude oil traded at 125 a barrel, about twice this year’s prices. Refining margins have been hampered by high gasoline inventory levels and weak fuel prices. On Wednesday, integrated oil company Hess
posted an 89% second-quarter profit pitfall and ConocoPhillips
reported a 76% drop in second-quarter earnings on the heels of the 53% earnings slump posted on Tuesday by BP
. Despite deteriorated profits, results have largely met analysts’ lowered expectations for the sector.Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Exxon Mobil
to report a second-quarter profit of 1.02 a share on sales of 71.3 billion on Thursday and Chevron
is projected to post earnings of 95 cents a share on sales of 33.4 billion. Ahead of the releases, both companies assured investors that dividends would remain intact with Chevron boosting its quarterly payout by 4.6% to 68 cents a share. Exxon retained its 42-cent quarterly dividend.Investors will be looking to see how the companies are using capital during the period of weak commodity prices.Shares across the oil sector closed Wednesday’s trading session lower as the U.S. energy department reported an unexpected increase in crude stocks, which rose 5.2 million barrels to 347.8 million barrels in the week ended July 24. Crude oil lost 3.88, or 5.8%, to settle Wednesday’s session at 63.35 a barrel. The Energy Select Sector
exchange-traded fund shed 1.17, or 2.3%, to close at 49.44. Exxon’s stock finished down by 1.54, or 2.1%, at 70.35 and Chevron closed Wednesday’s trading session 1.76 lower, or 2.6%, at 66.58.
Thomson Reuters contributed to this article.