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The Magical Negro............

Mike

Well-known member
Obama is already saving us from those EVIL Oil companies in just a few short days in office!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Shell Posts First Loss in 10 Years on Oil Price Drop (Update3)
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Bloomberg
By Fred Pals

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, posted its first quarterly loss in 10 years following a record plunge in oil prices, and warned that industry conditions “remain challenging.”

The fourth-quarter net loss was $2.81 billion, or $0.44 a share, compared with a profit of $8.47 billion, or $1.36, a year earlier, The Hague-based Shell said today in a statement. Revenue fell 24 percent to $81.07 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Jeroen Van der Veer boosted the dividend by 11 percent, and said Shell would continue with “competitive and progressive” payouts even as the global recession hurts demand. The company will maintain project investment in a range between $31 billion and $32 billion this year after cutting spending plans last year.

“We were slightly disappointed by the lower than expected exploration and production profitability,” Alexandre Weinberg, a Brussels-based analyst at Petercam SA, said. “This might lead us to foresee a lower free cash flow if hydrocarbon prices were to remain at their current levels.” Weinberg cut the stock to “add” from “buy”.

Excluding gains or losses from inventories and one-time items, earnings were $3.89 billion. The median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for profit of $4.13 billion on this basis. Shell also had a currency loss of $351 million.

Shell’s Class A shares were little changed at 1,777 pence as of 9:07 a.m. in London. The stock lost 15 percent last year.

CCS Basis

Fourth-quarter profit on a current cost of supplies basis fell to $4.8 billion from $6.7 billion, while full-year profit on the same basis rose to $31.4 billion from $27.6 billion. Net profit fell 16 percent to $26.3 billion in 2008.

A record 56 percent slump in New York-traded crude futures during the quarter eroded the value of inventories and hit earnings from exploration and production.

Oil prices fell to a four-year low of $32.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Dec. 19, after peaking at $147.27 on July 11. Crude oil for March delivery was down 1.6 percent at $41.50 as of 9:03 a.m. in London.

Earnings at Shell’s refining division fell to $582 million on a current cost of supplies basis, from $876 million a year earlier and from $2.3 billion in the third quarter. Profit from exploration & production dropped 24 percent to $3.71 billion.
 
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