埃克森美孚和雪佛龙或将大量减记油气储量

据ICIS-MRC网站9月8日莫斯科MRC报道， 如果下半年油价继续低迷，低大宗商品价格和2020年上半年大幅削减支出，可能会导致美国超级巨头埃克森美孚(Exxon Mobil)和雪佛龙(Chevron)大量减记已探明油气储量。

埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)在8月5日提交的10-Q季度报表中表示，可能减记其已探明储量最多20%，这意味着减记近45亿桶油当量。截至2019年底，该公司已探明储量总计224亿桶油当量。

埃克森美孚称，如果今年剩余时间内油价持续走低，到今年年底，某些原油、沥青和天然气的量将不会成为探明储量。

另外，雪佛龙在8月5日提交的文件中表示，其可能将已探明储量下调约10%，其中大部分位于美国二叠纪盆地和澳大利亚。

雪佛龙在10-Q文件中表示 ，如果当前的低商品价格持续下去，预计石油和天然气的探明储量将会减少，经济极限将受到负面影响。”由于权益效应，较低的油价将对已探明储量产生积极影响。

新冠肺炎疫情对经济的影响以及前所未有的石油市场崩盘，促使大多数综合性油气巨头在过去几个月削减支出，但也大幅减记资产，因为它们都下调了较长期原油价格预期。

雪佛龙第二季度的上游业务支出为54亿美元，主要涉及墨西哥湾的一个非运营油田、二叠纪盆地的常规作业以及亚洲和非洲的各种生产资产。这笔支出还包括在某南美油气储量大国的26亿美元资产减值，这是由这个南美国家不确定的经营环境和前景引发的。

总部位于伦敦的英国石油公司公布了第二季度非经营性项目的税后减记109亿美元，以及上游勘探活动的税后减记65亿美元。壳牌公布第二季度税后支出168亿美元。

在提交最近文件之前，埃克森美孚并没有就可能的资产减计提供指导意见。今年4月，该公司宣布将把今年的资本支出从330亿美元削减至230亿美元，削减30%，并将运营预算削减15%。由于削减了资本支出，埃克森美孚还在8月5日的文件中披露，它将把今年已探明储量的估计下调10亿桶油当量，其中大部分来自美国页岩油。

埃克森美孚在文件中表示:“因此，上游资产的生产设施折旧和耗损率从第一季度开始上升。”

埃克森美孚在第二季度财报电话会议上表示，该公司将在2021年进一步削减运营和支出。

埃克森美孚高级副总裁尼尔·查普曼7月31日表示，展望2021年，基于确定进一步的长期结构效率，减少的活动水平以及对我们的劳动力需求进行评估（包括进一步削减管理费用和管理职位的潜力），我们看到进一步削减的巨大潜力。

埃克森美孚的进一步削减开支以及对资产价值的评估将于11月与公司董事会敲定，并将于2021年上半年公布。

正如MRC之前所告知的，雪佛龙公司的一部分雪佛龙菲利普斯化学公司在评估飓风劳拉对其墨西哥湾沿岸PE业务的影响后，宣布9月1日其聚乙烯(PE)产品受到不可抗力的影响。

埃克森美孚是能源行业最大的非政府所有公司，其石油产量约占全球的3%，能源产量约占全球的2%。

郝芬 译自 ICIS-MRC

原文如下：

ExxonMobil, Chevron may write down big chunk of reserves if weak prices persist

Low commodity prices and deep spending cuts in the first half of 2020 could lead US supermajors ExxonMobil and Chevron to write down huge chunks of their proved oil and natural gas reserves if prices remain depressed in the second half.

In a 10-Q filing, ExxonMobil said Aug. 5 it could write down as much as 20% of its proved reserves, which totaled 22.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent at year-end 2019, thus implying a nearly 4.5 billion boe write-down.

If low prices persist for the rest of the year, "certain quantities of crude oil, bitumen, and natural gas will not qualify as proved reserves at year-end 2020," ExxonMobil said.

Separately, Chevron said in an Aug. 5 filing that it may revise downward its proved reserves by about 10%, mostly in the US Permian Basin and Australia.

"Should the current low commodity prices persist, it is expected that proved reserve quantities would decrease for oil and gas properties where economic limits are negatively impacted. Lower prices will positively impact proved reserves due to entitlement effects," Chevron said in the 10-Q filing.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the unprecedented oil market crash prompted a wave of spending cuts but also hefty write-downs by most of the integrated oil and gas majors in the last several months, as they all shifted their longer-term crude price outlooks lower.

Chevron took a USD5.4 billion upstream charge in the second quarter, primarily related to a non-operating field in the Gulf of Mexico, conventional operations in the Permian, and various producing assets in Asia and Africa. The charge also included a USD2.6 billion impairment on assets in V******la, sparked by the uncertain operating environment and outlook in the South American country.

London-based BP booked a second-quarter post-tax write-down of USD10.9 billion for non-operating items and a post-tax impairment of USD6.5 billion on upstream exploration activities. Shell reported a post-tax charge of $16.8 billion in the second quarter.

Prior to the recent filing, ExxonMobil had not offered guidance regarding possible write-downs, after unveiling in April that it would trim this year's capital expenditures by 30%, from USD33 billion to USD23 billion, and slash its operating budget by 15%. As a result of the capex spending cuts, ExxonMobil also disclosed in the Aug. 5 filing it would cut its estimates of proved reserves by 1 billion boe for the year, most of it from US shale.

"Consequently, unit-of-production depreciation and depletion rates for upstream assets increased beginning in the first quarter," ExxonMobil said in the filing.

ExxonMobil will make deeper cuts to its operations and spending in 2021, the company said on its second quarter earnings call.

"Looking ahead to 2021, we see significant potential for additional reductions based on the identification of further long-term structural efficiencies, reduced activity levels, and an evaluation of our workforce requirements, including the potential for further reductions in overhead and management positions," ExxonMobil Senior Vice President Neil Chapman said July 31.

ExxonMobil's additional spending cuts as well as a review of the value of assets should be finalized with the company's board of directors in November and should be released in the first half of 2021.

As MRC informed previously, Chevron Phillips Chemical, part of Chevron Corporation, declared force majeure Sept. 1 on its polyethylene (PE) products after assessing the impact of Hurricane Laura to its Gulf Coast PE operations,

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.