Recent quarterly reports revealed that major energy corporations managed to outperform analyst estimates across the board. While market observers might assume crude oil drove the gains, prices remained broadly consistent with last year and the ten-year average. Instead, firms navigated a nuanced landscape marked by slightly stronger natural gas prices that offset declining margins in chemical operations.
Key points
Energy sector outperformance was achieved without significant premiums in the current mar…: Energy sector outperformance was achieved without significant premiums in the current market price of crude oil.
ExxonMobil's third-quarter investor presentation offers vital context on how these integr…: ExxonMobil's third-quarter investor presentation offers vital context on how these integrated giants generated resilient financial returns.
Stronger natural gas prices helped insulate overall corporate earnings against softening…: Stronger natural gas prices helped insulate overall corporate earnings against softening chemical division profit margins.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
In One Chart
This one chart tells you everything you need to know about Exxon, Chevron and BP’s forecast-beating earnings
One slide in ExxonMobil’s investor presentation after its third-quarter earnings explains the financial situation for the integrated oil giants very neatly.
The knee-jerk answer might be, $100-per-barrel crude-oil prices CL00, but that’s not really the case — oil prices are not all that different than last year or in fact the 10-year average. Natural-gas prices are a little stronger, and chemicals margins are in fact worse.
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Steven Goldstein is based in London and responsible for MarketWatch's coverage of financial markets in Europe, with a particular focus on global macro and commodities. Previously, he was Washington bureau chief, directing MarketWatch's economic, political and regulatory coverage. Follow Steve on Twitter: @MKTWgoldstein.
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