US mini-major Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) posted a quarterly loss of $129mn in Q4 2015 as low oil prices offset a production rise of almost 13% year-on-year. Oxy announced in its Q4 2015 earnings call on 4 February that Capex fell by 36% in 2015 and totaled $5.6bn. Although Oxy anticipates a slight increase in oil prices in 2016, it is having to batten down the hatches for the year ahead. Capex is set to nearly half to $3bn.
In the MENA region alone, Oxy plans to cut spending by 56% in 2016. During the conference call, Oxy said it will achieve this through exiting “several countries”. Moreover, with the 1bn cfd Al-Hosn gas project in the UAE reaching full capacity in 2015, expenditure there will fall naturally. However, President and Chief Operating Officer Vicki Hollub previously told Gulf News on 23 January that Oxy and the UAE are considering adding “about 25-50% production” at Al-Hosn. This would entail a hefty expense, but the success of the project to date may prove too tempting to resist. (CONTINUED - 613 WORDS)
