US oil giants slash capital budgets after crude crash

US oil giants slash capital budgets after crude crash

Exxon Mobil and Chevron announced the belt-tightening moves as they reported first quarter results. Exxon Mobil reported a $610 million loss for the first quarter, compared with $2.4 billion in profits in the year-ago period.. US oil futures have remained volatile since closing in negative territory for the first time on April 20.. Exxon Mobil reduced capital spending by 30 percent to around $23 billion for 2020 and will trim operating expenses by 15 percent.. Chevron reported first-quarter profits of $3.6 billion, up 35.9 percent from the year-ago period.. Although oil and natural gas prices were lower than in the year-ago period, the company's downstream division scored much higher profits due in part to lower crude prices.. The company in late March had slashed the budget by 20 percent.. Crash brings down Singapore oil tycoon /node/1668331/business-economy. But the trading hero's rags-to-riches saga ended when global oil markets were plunged into turmoil by the coronavirus pandemic.. Global oil demand has collapsed by around a third this year because of the pandemic.. Global oil demand has collapsed by around a third, according to some estimates, as the pandemic brings economic activity to a standstill.. I mean, the guys were big," the