#oilandgas

What’s the latest from Apache’s Permian Basin operations? How’s the AI drilling and optimization process coming along? When do the recently completed wells experience deep declines as was seen in 2017-2021 era or is the rock and completion practices far improved?

Have those been affected by the planned reductions been notified yet or given clues? Here at Imperial and EM Canada? Asking for a friend...

Analysis By NAN Business Editor
News Americas, Georgetown, Guyana, Tues. Oct. 14, 2025: ExxonMobil’s Guyana President, Alistair Routledge on Monday claimed the company is “still operating in the red to the tune of around US$6 billion” in Guyana, as he retorted over to a question by three U.S. senators on the company’s tax breaks. So which number is closer to reality: $6 billion or $3.4 billion in losses?

What Routledge Said
Speaking at Exxon’s Ogle, East Coast Demerara headquarters, Routledge told reporters that the NGO Oil and Gas Governance Network, (OGGN) may have misled U.S. senators about the company’s tax filings. He said that ExxonMobil Guyana is still operating with a negative cash flow of around six billion US dollars.

“We continue to be actually cash flow negative on an accumulative basis… we are probably still around six billion US dollars in negative cash flow as we look at the cumulative expenditures and cumulative revenues that we’ve seen from the Stabroek Block,” he told reporters.

Routledge asserted that in ExxonMobil Corporation’s 2023 and 2024 tax filings, there were no Guyanese tax credits included in either of those filings, “and you would recall that prior to 2023, we were not making profits here in Guyana, so there were no tax credits from that. Up until this point, there have been no Guyana tax credits used by ExxonMobil.”

The Alternative Figure: $3.4 Billion
But Exxon’s own Guyana website identifies a different figure: US$3.4 billion in red ink — even while acknowledging an accounting profit in 2024. According to Exxon’s 2024 financials:

Gross production rose sharply with the Prosperity FPSO, boosting revenue for all partners

Despite posting an accounting profit, the company said it remains “in the red” by US$3.4 billion

Exxon and its co-venturers have invested a cumulative US$55 billion in Guyana to date.

This divergence begs the question: how can a company be both profitable on paper and yet claim to be billions in losses?

The Contractual Context
Under the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), Exxon’s Guyana deal allows it to recover up to 75% of its share of oil revenue for cost recovery before profit payments begin. In practice, this means a large portion of early revenue goes to recovering the developer’s costs- capital, exploration, infrastructure – leaving little net profit early on.

Furthermore, financials for 2024 show:

Operating expenditures of GYD 477.6 billion

Depreciation/amortization at GYD 301.8 billion

Exploration, production, royalties also eat into margins

These mechanics help explain how Exxon could legitimately claim negative cash flow despite strong revenues.

Why It Matters for Guyana
The optics of a $6B loss vs $3.4B matters deeply for public trust, fiscal policy, and future licensing. Guyana has collected over US$6.2 billion in oil profits and royalties since 2020 – so when Exxon claims it’s in the red, critics say the narrative raises concerns about transparency and fairness. If Exxon can delay or reduce profit sharing through cost recovery claims, that changes the magnitude and timing of what Guyana as a partner actually realizes.

Bottom Line
Both $6 billion and $3.4 billion claims could contain grains of truth, depending on accounting methods, timing, amortization and recovery policies.
Routledge emphasized cash flow negativity and absence of Guyanese tax credits in filings.

Exxon’s public data insists on a lower loss figure despite profits.

The discrepancy boils down to methodology, timing, and cost recovery mechanics.
So, while the $6B figure commands headlines, the $3.4B estimate rooted in Exxon’s own reporting asks where did the almost three additional billion come from?. It’s really a question of how loss and profit are really defined.

https://www.newsamericasnow.com/exxonmobil-guyana-loss-vs-profit-2025/

How has the fracking on Teapot Dome working out ?

It’s clear that what Mike Wirth is doing is cannibalizing Chevron for dividends to try to make it look like it’s a good company to invest in. No reserves = no future. Look at his history with the company. It’s all downward. Now he’s cannibalizing the company so that when he leaves, he leaves with a nice chunk of change.

Exactly what @am+1k728pwka said.

Can anyone shed light on how promotions to CL30 work? Of course, one needs to have exec potential.

Does one need an Exec sponsor? Is two consecutive Outstanding enough to get there after CL29?

Please FACTS only ... no bul--hit ... all cr-bab-es only read and learn ... don't need BTC/KLTC as well ...

Tomorrow is Monday and a very important week at JRC. A PGL told me that layoffs will take place Thursday and Friday. If you work in FE/RXT and SP, get ready. You won't have a job next Monday. Serious business. Don't dismiss this.

Don't say you weren't warned b

But I’m a chicken. I’ve got a family, aging parents, bills that keep climbing, and debt that isn’t going anywhere, while the options out there shrink by the day. So yeah, I’m worried out of my mind. It’s not helpful, but I honestly don’t know how to help myself. Most of us don’t have solid ground to stand on or savings to weather the storm.

I have a feeling that if I get let go in the coming round, the overwhelming feeling will actually be relief. Maybe that’s just me coping, but I’ve been fed up with this place for so long that it overshadows everything else.

I guess I was a sleep at the wheel and misssed this announcement. Did anyone hear from Oxy about the new rules for the catchup portion of our 401K. It looks like you might still be able to add to a Roth, but I used the pre-tax catachup for years now since I am older and could use it. I guess the govt needs more upfront tax dollars. This is an extra 2K a year I will be paying in taxes. Glad I am retiring in 2026.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/some-americans-lose-popular-401k-tax-break-major-retirement-rule-change-starting-2026

I hear Shale is crashing. Layoffs

TOTAL WASTE OF TIME

https://straussborrelli.com/2025/05/13/national-oilwell-varco-warn-act-investigation/

An oil company whose headquarters are in the ClayDesta area is getting ready to bring in hundreds of new employees — they just need a place to park.

Approximately 250 employees are set to move from XTO Energy’s offices at 6401 Holiday Hill Road to the former Pioneer Natural Resources offices at 3617 N. Big Spring St.

ExxonMobil, which acquired Pioneer last year and is the parent company of XTO, is preparing to accommodate those additional employees. The company has broken ground on a new parking lot south of the Pioneer building that will have 300 additional spaces. Completion of the new parking lot is expected before next summer.

ExxonMobil is spending $10.4 million on interior renovations to the second level of the Pioneer building to accommodate the XTO employees. Completion is expected by the end of the year.

“(The renovations) reflect our ongoing commitment to our local employees and the Permian Basin community,” officials told the Reporter-Telegram. “We’re better together and, through this move, are prioritizing collaboration, knowledge sharing, productivity and company culture.”

All local ExxonMobil employees are expected to be accommodated at the corporate office, as well as the former Pioneer Midkiff location at 2625 County Road 180 in Garden City and 4815 E. Highway 80.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/exxon-is-making-room-as-it-readies-for-more-employees-at-pioneer-campus/

The never ending…

With the low oil price environment which doesn’t seems like it will improve soon, any news on the street if there will not be layoffs in Oxy? Any thoughts if the OxyChem sales will lead to headcount reductions in the upstream side of the business?

Layoffs are happening in Dubai.
150 already let this week.

Leadership are making decisions as we speak on closing camps in the US. 1000s of layoffs. Hal will never care about your family. Play their game and plan your departure ahead of time.

Just opening this up as I am already getting employees who are upset. Especially at the director level.

There is a team meeting today again offsite.

I propose that there is a mid management level cull throughout NOV. Managers at the top are clueless and ineffectual, always have been/always will be. The mid level have neither direction nor personality - we require these to get back a culture of support and team focus.
“This is the way”
Children of the watch

https://www.thelayoff.com/t/1k72ydbvw

Next cost cut will be the end of flights and camps at Kearl.

Relocation to FTM or severance!

Exxon Mobil will postpone its plans for a large new plastics production plant on the Gulf Coast of Texas, according to the company. Construction initially was planned to begin next year on the $10 billion facility in rural Calhoun County.

"Based on current market conditions, we are going to slow the pace of our development for the Coastal Plain Venture," Exxon said in an emailed statement. "We're confident in our growth strategy, and we remain interested in a potential project along the US Gulf Coast and in other regions around the world."

Six weeks prior, a county district court judge invalidated the local school board's decision to negotiate a tax break agreement with Exxon, following a lawsuit from Diane Wilson, 77, and her group, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper.

On Aug. 19, the judge ordered the school board to redo its public hearing on Exxon's tax break after Wilson alleged the district provided inadequate notice of the meeting in "a deliberate attempt to avoid public opposition." Wilson, an internationally known environmental advocate, promised to bring a large audience for the repeat hearing.

"I think it definitely played into it," Wilson said of Exxon's pause. "I think if everybody had just rolled over for them, if they got exactly what they wanted and there wasn't a big fight, there would be no delay."

Exxon, which reported nearly $34 billion in profits in 2024, was seeking a 50% reduction in its property taxes to the rural Calhoun County Independent School District for 10 years, beginning in 2031, when the project would come online.

Plans called for the world-scale plastics plant to produce up to 3 million tons per year of polyethylene pellets for export, primarily to Asia, according to Exxon's December 2024 tax abatement application.

John Titas, president of the Victoria Economic Development Corp. in nearby Victoria, said he didn't think Exxon's decision was related to the tax break fight.

"I think they've been very thankful for the support they received in the community," he said. "It's economics. To justify an investment of that magnitude, you've got to make sure the market will provide a return."

In Exxon's latest statement, first reported last week by Independent Commodity Intelligence Services, an industry news service, the company maintained the possibility of resuming the project in the future. "We're maintaining good relationships with community leaders and contractors, so we are ready to reevaluate the project's status when market conditions improve," it said.

Exxon didn't specify which market conditions would need to change. Most projections forecast strong growth in plastics demand over coming years.

The economic intelligence firm Precedence Research expects markets for polyethylene, which the Exxon plant would produce, to grow 64% between 2024 and 2034, according to a June 2025 assessment. Another firm, Expert Market Research, expects overall plastics markets to grow 51% in that time. According to the Plastics Industry Association, "The global plastics industry continues to accelerate, backed by strong demand."

Wilson said the project's delay marked the best news she'd heard since 2019, when she found out that her lawsuit against another nearby petrochemical giant, Formosa Plastics, would end with a settlement worth more than $100 million in penalty payouts, facility upgrades and cleanup projects.

A retired shrimper and mother of five, Wilson learned her tactics of resistance over decades of radical activism in defense of Texas' coastal bays, where four generations of her family have fished for a living. In 2023 she received the Goldman Environmental Prize, the leading global award for environmental activism.

As soon as she heard about the new Exxon project, in December 2024, she said she leapt into action, involving herself in the various public processes she's come to know about, including the school district tax break agreements.

"How a community reacts is extremely important and it's extremely important that you do it in the beginning," she said. "Move fast and don't let up."

This report is published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/exxon-stepping-back-from-texas-gulf-coast-plastics-plant/

xxon Mobil (XOM) is reportedly planning to re-enter Iraq after exiting in early 2024 by signing agreements to lay the groundwork for exploring the country’s vast Majnoon field.

According to a Bloomberg News report, citing a person familiar with the matter, the oil major plans to sign a heads of agreement with Basra Oil Co. and SOMO, Iraq’s oil marketing company, in the coming days. The report further stated that the deal will include discussions on export infrastructure and potential oil marketing projects in the southern part of the country.

Despite being one of the first Western oil firms to be allowed into Iraq following the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s government, Exxon's operations in the West Asian country have often been marred by major political standoffs, security risks, and contractual disputes. Exxon sold its primary investment in the country, a stake in the West Qurna-1 oil field in southern Iraq, in January 2024.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Exxon was in the ‘neutral’ territory at the time of writing.

Majnoon, located 60 km (37 miles) from Basra in southern Iraq, is one of the biggest oil fields in the world with an estimated reserve of 38 billion barrels. However, Western oil firms have struggled to agree on profit-sharing terms with the Iraqi government, with a prominent example being Shell’s exit from the field in 2017.

The Bloomberg report stated that Exxon would need to complete a series of commercial and technical studies and agree to a production-sharing contract before it begins pumping oil, a process that could take years.

Exxon stock has gained 5.5% this year. Earlier this week, the company stated that it anticipates higher refining margins will boost its third-quarter earnings by $300 million to $700 million, compared to the previous quarter.

However, the Texas-based firm also flagged that restructuring costs could lower its earnings by $400 million to $600 million. The company said last week that it is laying off 2,000 workers amid a decline in oil prices.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/exxon-eyes-return-to-iraq-plans-to-explore-majnoon-oil-field-report/

Liz is retiring from Chevron, and the Earth itself may need a moment to recalibrate. After 36 years of finding oil in places most people wouldn’t even vacation, she’s finally trading seismic data for actual peace and quiet. Somewhere, a basin is weeping.

Chevron’s official statement praised her “collaborative leadership” and “global impact,” which is corporate-speak for “she made miracles happen while we reorganized every six months.” Liz didn’t just lead exploration—she led the delicate art of pretending budget cuts were strategic pivots.

Her successor now inherits the impossible task of filling her boots, which are rumored to be made of titanium and sarcasm. Good luck, Kevin. May your PowerPoints be short and your dry holes even shorter.

So here’s to Liz: the geophysicist who could read rocks better than most people read emails, who survived more reorganizations than a filing cabinet, and who now gets to enjoy a life free of acronyms, alignment meetings, and the phrase “value creation.” May her retirement be rich in irony and poor in bandwidth.

We are so numb to constant changes (always for the worse) that the workforce no longer cares. Enough with these nonsense townhalls. Let us just collect our paychecks and spend as much time caring about Chevron as the Chevron leaders care about us.

Appears that there is a smaller reorg in CIG Canada. No specific details at this time.

By Georgina McCartney

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Tuesday as investors considered a smaller than expected increase to OPEC+ output in November against signs of a potential supply glut.

Brent crude futures were down 18 cents, or 0.27%, to $65.29 a barrel at 11:47 a.m. EDT (1547 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 13 cents, or 0.21%, to $61.56.

Both contracts settled more than 1% up in the previous session after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and some smaller producers, together known as OPEC+, decided to increase collective oil production by 137,000 barrels per day, starting in November.

Market sentiment remains subdued, in particular after Saudi Arabia opted to keep the official selling price of its flagship crude to Asia unchanged, defying analyst expectations for an increase, StoneX analyst Alex Hodes said in a note on Tuesday.

The move was in contrast to market expectations for a more aggressive increase, a sign that the group remains cautious in light of predictions for a global supply surplus in the fourth quarter as well as next year, said ING analysts.

On the demand side, India's fuel demand rose by 7% year on year in September, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the Oil Ministry.

On the supply side, JPMorgan said global oil inventories, including crude stored on water, have risen every week in September, adding 123 million barrels during the month.

China, meanwhile, is building oil reserve sites at a rapid clip as part of a campaign to boost stockpiles, according to public data, traders and industry experts.

Geopolitical factors have kept a floor under prices, with conflict between Russia and Ukraine affecting energy assets and creating uncertainty over Russian crude supply.

Russia's Kirishi oil refinery halted its most productive distillation unit after a drone attack and subsequent fire on October 4, with recovery likely to take about a month, two industry sources said on Monday.

Investors are also awaiting U.S. oil stocks data, due later on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute.

"Right now the market is locked in a sideways pattern, waiting to see what happens with inventories," said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Price Futures Group.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston, Enes Tunagur and Robert Harvey in London, Anjana Anil in Bengaluru and Siyi Liu in SingaporeEditing by Kim Coghill, Clarence Fernandez, David Goodman, Rod Nickel)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/oil-slips-on-opec-output-hike-supply-glut-fears/

For full disclosure, I am a white male that got let go earlier this year after 20 years with the company and yes, chatgpt helped rewrite my rant in the following professional manner.

Chevron’s Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) organization was once the benchmark of operational excellence, a “Platinum” model respected across the energy sector. Backed by deep technical expertise and field-driven leadership, it played a critical role in upholding Chevron’s reputation for safety and discipline.

Today, that reputation is that Chevron is plain and simple, get the job done with the cheapest way possible. HSE is an afterthought.

Insiders and industry observers say the HSE function has lost its edge, evolving into a bureaucratic arm focused more on compliance optics than real safety outcomes much of what was seen in 2019 and repeated over and over again including this year. Chevron HSE Moto was White Males not wanted. Look at today's HSE demographics. Experienced white male professionals have been replaced or sidelined in favor of internal favorites and corporate climbers, with leadership roles increasingly filled by those lacking field or technical experience.

Chevron’s recent cultural pivot, including a strong emphasis on DEI initiatives, has sparked a rash of incidents. When qualifications and expertise take a back seat, especially in high-stakes functions like HSE, the results can be damaging.

The shift is already visible: incident reviews are increasingly sanitized, technical audits feel performative, and institutional knowledge is quietly being kicked out the DEI no white males allowed door. These are all my opinions rewritten by ChatGPT.

We have been holding hands together and singing "Kumbaya, My Lord" so much for One Weatherford Week that we forgot how bad our stock and market are at the moment. Could this mean that layoffs are right around the corner after this One Weatherford Week?

Wirth now has three priorities.

First, complete the restructuring and rebuilding of Chevron's corporate culture; second, integrate Hess; and third, extend the concession to develop the giant Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan, which expires in 2033.
The latter is crucial. When the initial 40-year agreement was signed in 1994, it was dubbed the "deal of the century," as it gave the company access to the oil of the former Soviet Union.

Our concession is valid for another eight years…We have begun working with the government to discuss its extension. I'd like to finish this, not delegate it to someone else," Wirth said in an interview with Bloomberg.

With all the lay offs and facilities closing, when will they off the next VERP, early retirement package? If 2nd quarter 2026, that would be 3 years since the last package. 4 years would be 2027, hope not that long.

Is it bleak across the board or are there pockets of good somewhere?

1 Year Return:
Valero 19%
HF Sinclair 17%
Marathon 15%
Phillips 66 (0.4%)

2 Year Return:
Marathon 19%
Valero 17.5%
Phillips 66 14.3%
HF Sinclair 4.5%

Since Mark L. Became CEO (July 2022)
Marathon 32%
Phillips 66 19%
Valero 17%
HF Sinclair 8%

Pretty well every employer is a shareholder. Speak out to the board and investor relations. If everyone floods them with messages showing disapproval as shareholders, the long term impact to the business they can’t ignore it.

Even with exxon owning 69.6% of the shares it starts to open so legal questions if they have opposition from other shareholders.

Your silence is acceptance.

If long term this hurts imperial there may be grounds for a shareholder class action.

Houston saw Chevron unload the former Noble Energy headquarters in June 2025 for $18.2 million, a fire-sale compared with a previous valuation near $130 million.

The petrochemical sector is struggling with weakening demand, overcapacity and a global pivot towards cleaner energy, analysts point out.

SINGAPORE: ExxonMobil’s decision to cut up to 500 jobs in Singapore signals wider industry challenges from declining demand and rising supply, analysts said.

The US energy giant on Wednesday (Oct 1) said it plans to reduce 10 to 15 per cent of its workforce in Singapore by end-2027, calling it a move to improve competitiveness in an “ever-evolving landscape” and to "position the business for future success".

The announcement followed a global restructuring plan unveiled a day earlier, which will see the company laying off 2,000 jobs worldwide, or 3 to 4 per cent of its workforce.

Analysts pointed out that ExxonMobil's cuts reflect broader challenges across the sector.

“It's a demand-supply story affecting international oil and gas companies,” said energy consultant Tilak Doshi.

“Crude oil prices are down, margins are down, revenues are down … So how do they respond to it? By cutting back.”

Other major US oil companies, including Chevron and ConocoPhillips, have announced job cuts this year, as Brent crude prices fell by about 12 per cent this year, driven by rising OPEC+ supply.

The sector is also facing weakening demand and overcapacity, particularly with the growth of petrochemical plants in China, said former Energy Studies Institute visiting senior fellow Leow Foon-Lee.

Singapore is not insulated from these challenges, given its role as a regional refining hub, he said.

Beyond oil demand and supply, companies also face uncertainties from trade tariffs and pressures to restructure as artificial intelligence reshapes operations, said Mr Leow, who is also an adjunct professor at Nanyang Technological University's business school.

SHIFT TO GREEN ENERGY
Besides ExxonMobil, other oil giants in Singapore have cut back their businesses in recent years.

In May last year, Shell sold its Bukom refinery in Singapore – one of the world’s largest oil refining and trading centres – to Indonesian firm PT Chandra Asri and Swiss-based Glencore, having earlier announced plans to cut 500 jobs over three years.

Structural shifts in the industry are being driven by the global transition to cleaner energy, automation and stricter regulations, said Dr Roger Fouquet, principal research fellow at the Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Singapore, like other parts of the world, is moving towards deploying cleaner energy with a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The country was the first in Southeast Asia to implement a carbon tax in 2019. Businesses that emitted more than 25,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas a year had to pay S$5 (US$3.90) per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent produced.

This tax was raised to S$25 per tonne of emissions in 2024, and will eventually be raised to S$50 to S$80 by 2030.

Analysts stressed, however, that current layoffs are tied more to demand and supply than to carbon policy.

SINGAPORE'S EVOLVING ROLE
Despite the turbulence in the industry, analysts said Singapore's petrochemical hub role is not diminishing but evolving.

"The rationalisations are paving the way for a more resilient … and future-driven market and environment,” said Mr Timo Tumuscheit, vice-president of business development for chemicals at Argus.

He said Singapore is “moving up the value chain” by focusing on more specialty chemicals, which are higher-value, produced in smaller quantities and tailored for specific functions.

Momentum is also building around biochemicals, carbon capture and low-carbon fuels, which reflect the region's shift towards more sustainable energy systems.

Although Singapore is now a hub for liquefied natural gas and bunker fuel, the fuel mix will change to cleaner fuels in future, said Mr Leow.

“And so our role has not changed. It's just the fuel mix has changed,” he added.

Mr Tumuscheit agreed: “Singapore, as a petrochemical hub, will always remain a major player and an important hub in the region and globally.”

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/exxonmobil-layoffs-petrochemical-industry-challenges-cleaner-energy-5382121?cid=cna_flip_070214