Oil Prices Surge, but Petroleum Company Stocks End Week Tepidly
As oil prices soared at the start of January, petroleum company stocks concluded the week with mixed results.
Key Players and Their Performance
- Chevron: The U.S.-based company saw a 3.98% increase, leading the pack.
- Saudi Aramco: The Saudi Arabian oil company experienced a 3.06% rise in Riyad stock exchange.
- Exxon Mobil: Another U.S. company, Exxon Mobil gained 1.6%.
- ConocoPhilips: This U.S.-based company saw a 0.84% increase.
- Repsol: The Spanish petroleum company had a modest 0.55% gain.
- PetroChina: The Chinese company fared the worst, with a 5.19% decline.
White House Meeting: Potential Investments in Venezuela
On Friday, the White House convened petroleum executives to discuss potential investments in Venezuela.
According to an industry source, only the largest producers possess the necessary scale and capability to operate in Venezuela, having prior experience there.
Key Executives in Attendance
- Chevron
- Exxon Mobil
- ConocoPhillips
President Donald Trump stated, “U.S. companies will have the opportunity to rebuild Venezuela’s dilapidated energy infrastructure and eventually increase oil production to unprecedented levels.” He further added, “We will decide which petroleum companies will be entering.”
Hesitation Among Major Players
Companies like Chevron, Vitol, and Trafigura are vying for U.S. licenses to trade existing Venezuelan crude, but major petroleum companies are hesitant to commit to long-term investments in Venezuela due to high costs and political instability.
“Currently, Venezuela is ‘uninvestible,’ and we need to see significant changes before considering a return,” said ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods at the White House meeting.
Exxon and ConocoPhillips left Venezuela nearly 20 years ago following the nationalization of their assets.
Oil Prices Rise
Last week, oil prices saw substantial gains.
- European benchmark Brent crude from the North Sea rose 4.26% to $63.34 per barrel.
- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) in the U.S. increased 3.14% to $59.12 per barrel.
- Mexico’s export blend climbed 2.52% to close at $54.97 per barrel on Friday.
Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group, noted, “The situation in Iran keeps the market on edge.”
NetBlocks, an Internet control group, reported a nationwide outage in Iran on Thursday amid ongoing protests over economic hardships in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and other regions.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped 28.40 million barrels per day last month, a decrease of 100,000 from the revised November total, according to a survey. Iran and Venezuela recorded the largest drops.
(Information sourced from Reuters)
