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Exxon Mobil guides to huge drop in earnings; just one example of revenue and earnings problems across the sector

Exxon Mobil guides to huge drop in earnings; just one example of revenue and earnings problems across the sector

On Wednesday, July 5, Exxon Mobil (XOM) told investors that second quarter earnings could drop by 50% from earnings in the second quarter of 2022. On Thursday, July 6, shares of Exxon Mobil closed down 3.73%. Remember, we’re talking about Exxon Mobil here, one gigantic oil company. So while earnings could fall by half in the quarter, the company is still looking at quarterly earnings of $6.2 billion. Exxon’s news has implications across the energy sector.

Sunday’s surprise OPEC+ sends oil and oil stocks higher Monday (with slight retreat today)

Sunday’s surprise OPEC+ sends oil and oil stocks higher Monday (with slight retreat today)

Today the prices of oil and oil stocks have soared. At 11:20 a.m. New York time U.S. crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 5.37% to $79.73 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude was higher by 5.24% to $84.08 a barrel. Among oil stocks, Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) was up 3.53%; ExxonMobil (XOM ) was up 5.48%; Chevron (CVX) was up 3.73%; Equinor (EQNR) was up 5.91%; and ConocoPhillips (COP) was up 7.79% The U.S. Oil Fund (USO) was higher by 5.40%.

Oil rallies, finally

Oil rallies, finally

Oil rallied today, Monday, March 27, for the first time in, well, quite a while. Oil is likely to finish with a loss in March, for a fifth monthly drop. So today’s move, which saw West Texas Intermediate jump by almost 55, marked quite a shift in direction.

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week U.S . Oil Production not Rising as Expected

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week U.S . Oil Production not Rising as Expected

Today I posted my two-hundred-and-fifth YouTube video. This week’s Trend of the Week: U.S. Oil Production is Not Rising as Expected. Oil prices have averaged $100 per barrel over 2022–a figure that would normally lead oil companies to expand production and capital spending, but it hasn’t this time. According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. oil production is only up about 3% from December 2021. Projections had the U.S. at 12 million barrels a day by the end of this year, but we’re currently only at 9.77 million barrels a day. Why is the production not going up? Oil shale fields deplete faster than traditional fields and we may have reached peak production in some of these oil shale basins. The best properties may have been exhausted and we’re now seeing companies move to their more inferior properties. The drilling and fracking may be happening at a steady pace, but we’re not getting as much out of the wells and properties currently being drilled. Companies that had a stock of drilled, but uncompleted have now worked through those “spare” wells and don’t have the motivation to drill new ones as Wall Street and investors would prefer high dividends instead of capital spent on a commodity that has an unclear future. The two oil companies I would look at are Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE: PXD) and ConocoPhillips (COP) because of their mix of resources.

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week Seasonal Trends in Energy

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week Seasonal Trends in Energy

Today I posted my one-hundred-ninety-sixth YouTube video: Trend of the Week Seasonal Trends in Energy. This week’s Trend of the Week: Seasonal Trends in Energy. There’s a predictable pattern in oil and natural gas prices. In late fall, October to November, you can expect a deep dive to begin and carry on through the winter, with a sharp rise in March and early spring. You can see this trend looking at previous years in the United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: USO) and the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (NYSEARCA: UNG). Right now, we’re heading into that dip in energy prices but you should not sell – in fact, you should be adding to these positions. This seasonal fall in energy prices will allow you to get ahead of the spring bounce. Europe’s energy supply is enough to get through the upcoming winter but, in March, as they look toward next year’s supply, they’ll need to start rebuilding inventories in a market strained by the war in Ukraine, cuts in production, and a hostile OPEC. Stateside, the US Energy Information Administration is projecting record production from the Permian Basin of Texas and Oklahoma, as well as record production of natural gas this year. Even though we’re not seeing a whole lot of capital expenditure, they’re uncapping wells and pumping them harder. Look at USO and UNG as ETF oil and natural gas buys For individual stocks I’d look at Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), and EQUINOR (NYSE: EQNR)–all of which I own in portfolios and have no intention of selling anytime soon.

What to do about your oil stocks?

What to do about your oil stocks?

I’ve seen several comments on the site asking this question. I assume we’re talking about oil stocks in the short- and medium-term. In the long term, I think it’s clear that you should be thinking about selling these out of your portfolio at a profit (of course) whenever you can. Demand for oil will fall in the long-term–defining long-term as 5 years or more–or we can all count on figuring out how to survive 120-degree (Fahrenheit) heat. Today, August 5, is a good synopsis of what’s going on with oil and oil stocks in the short- and medium-term.

Oil falls on surprise build in U.S. inventories in spite of a shockingly small increase in production from OPEC+

Oil falls on surprise build in U.S. inventories in spite of a shockingly small increase in production from OPEC+

As of 2 p.m. New York time today, August 3, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was down 3.30% to $91.30 a barrel. International benchmark Brent fell 3.07% to $97.45 a barrel.

The drop was a result of Wednesday data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing that U.S. crude and gasoline inventories unexpectedly rose last week. U.S. crude supplies were up 4.5 million barrels in the week ended July 29, while gasoline supplies rose 200,000 barrels. This comes at a time when gasoline inventories usually fall on high seasonal demand. This report was, for the day, more than enough to offset the announcement of a smaller than expected increase in oil production by OPEC+ of just 100,000 barrels a day for September.

Bad day for consumer stocks; good day for commodity shares

Bad day for consumer stocks; good day for commodity shares

The Conference Board’s latest reading on consumer confidence showed consumer expectations in June fell to their lowest level since 2013. The consumer confidence index for June fell to 98.7 from 103.2 in May, below expectations for a reading of 100. The report’s expectations index, which is based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income growth, the job market, and overall business conditions, fell to 66.4, its lowest reading since March 2013.

Saturday Night Quarterback says, For the week ahead expect…

Saturday Night Quarterback says, For the week ahead expect…

It’s likely that the current “disagreement” about how fast Russian oil production is falling will be resolved in favor of “pretty fast” despite spin from Moscow. Which would mean that Friday’s jump in oil prices–West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.165 to $110.60 a barrel–will continue. And so will Friday’s rally in oil stocks. ConocoPhilips (COP), for example, was up 4.69% on Friday. Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) gained 5.35%.

Natural gas prices soar–no summer slump in prices this year thanks to war in Ukraine

Natural gas prices soar–no summer slump in prices this year thanks to war in Ukraine

Normally at this time of year natural gas prices retreat and companies actually stash natural gas in storage for use durin hurricane outages in the fall and winter heating season. Not this year, however. Today natural gas prices in the U.S. hit a new 18-year high. At 11:20 a.m. New York time natural gas for June delivery climbed to $8.08 per million BTUs, up 8.12% on the morning

Selling ConocoPhillips tomorrow on increased Russian oil refinery production

Another round of higher oil prices headed our way

Today, April 21, reports from a number of different sources are pointing to lower oil production–which will mean higher oil prices. Even from current levels. And oil prices are significantly higher in the past three weeks. At 3:00 p.m. New York time today U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $103.44 a barrel, up 1.61% on the day. On April 11 West Texas Intermediate traded for just $94.29 a barrel.