Why consolidation will be key for oil companies – The National

Why consolidation will be key for oil companies – The National

Why consolidation will be key for oil companies. Oil companies are survivors: Shell, BP and ExxonMobil each date back more than a century.. Now the coronavirus crisis threatens to derail the big oil companies' emerging plans.. Oil companies had been relying on improved energy efficiency and a gradual conversion into big gas players, relying on the fuel's lower carbon footprint.. Using carbon capture and storage to mop emissions, and moving more into petrochemicals, is part of the plan.. Under little domestic political pressure for now, they have maintained their view that oil and gas demand will keep growing for decades.. Smaller US companies sold off foreign assets to become "pure-play" shale drillers.. Occidental, almost the only American company with a vision on becoming climate-compatible, paid $38bn for rival Anadarko in 2019, outbidding Chevron, and quickly moved to offload its African assets.. Traders Vitol and Trafigura believe oil demand could be down 10 million barrels per day, out of 100m bpd total pre-crisis.. Global storage will soon be full, which will mean the world's higher-cost producers will have to stop production entirely.. Shell has raised its dividend every year since the Second World War.. Government plans for economic recovery post crisis