GREY:WFREF - Post by User
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rlovetton Feb 05, 2015 9:46pm
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Post# 23402282
Large Oil Companys will be buying more and more small ones?
Large Oil Companys will be buying more and more small ones?
Oil majors failing to find reserves to counter falling output • 5:50 PM Carl Surran, SA News Editor •Big oil companies had a poor record of finding and producing oil and gas last year, Reuters reports as it cites figures out in the past week, and big cuts in spending in response to falling crude prices could undermine their plans to turn that around. •Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and BP released provisional figures showing together they replaced only two-thirds of the hydrocarbons they extracted in 2014 with new reserves; combined with Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), they posted an average drop in oil and gas production of 3.25% in 2014. •The 2014 results echo long-term trends: Over the past decade, the biggest Western oil majors have seen reserves growth stall, production drop 15% and profits fall by nearly 20%. •Some analysts warn that overly aggressive cuts could have long-term repercussions; the expertise needed to develop new fields and infrastructure takes long periods to build up, thus if companies lose this expertise, they may struggle to expand their portfolios when oil prices recover.