French energy major Total posted on Thursday losses of over $8.37 billion during second-quarter driven by impairments, lower hydrocarbon prices and production levels, Kallanish Energy reports.
The net loss compares to a net profit of $2.76 billion during the same period last year, as “exceptional circumstances” led to asset impairments totalling $8.1 billion. The majority of the impairments ($7 billion) related to Canadian oil sand assets.
Total also cited the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as lower oil and gas prices, refining margins due to weaker demand as factors for the results.
Despite this, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Total has demonstrated its resilience by “reporting $3.6 billion of cash flow, positive adjusted net income and a level of gearing under control,” as well as its “sustainability in a $40 per barrel Brent environment.”
The company will maintain dividends of $0.66 per share, stable from the payout in the first quarter of the year. Total confirmed its commitment to reduce investment to less than $14 billion in 2020, announced earlier this year, with approximately $2 billion earmarked for investment in low-carbon electricity.
Output for the year has been revised down to between 2.5-2.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mmboe/d), down from 2.95-3.0 Mmboe/d announced in Q1.
Overall oil and gas production volume during second-quarter was 2.85 Mmboe/d, a 4% year-on-year decline from 3.09 Mmboe/d in 1Q19. Gas production during the period totalled 7.05 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), down from 7.31 Bcf/d a year earlier.
Total realised an average gas of $2.61 per million British thermal units (MmBtu) and average liquefied natural gas price of $4.40 MmBtu during the April-June quarter, down from $3.82 and $5.69 MmBtu, respectively, during the same period of 2019.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.