On February 2, 2021, British Petroleum (BP) announced its fourth quarter and full-year financial results for 2020.
The financial report shows that in 2020, the company’s basic replacement cost profit was a loss of US$5.69 billion, compared with a profit of US$9.99 billion in 2019. The company’s net loss attributable to the company’s shareholders last year was US$20.305 billion (equivalent to approximately RMB 131.1 billion). Net profit in 2019 was US$4.026 billion. This is BP’s first full-year loss in nearly a decade.
On February 2, 2021, Exxon Mobil announced its fourth quarter and full-year financial results. The financial report shows that due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on energy prices, it suffered a loss of US$22 billion (equivalent to approximately RMB 144.6 billion) in 2020, compared with a profit of more than US$14 billion the previous year. This is the first time the company has recorded an annual loss in at least the past 40 years.
The company announced that it expects a loss of US$20.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, or a diluted loss of US$4.70 per share. Capital and exploration spending in the fourth quarter was $4.8 billion, bringing full-year spending to $21.4 billion, a decrease of $9.8 billion from the same period last year.
Data show that ExxonMobil’s full-year net loss in 2020 was US$22.4 billion, while its full-year profit in 2019 was US$14.34 billion. It was the company’s first annual loss in at least 40 years.
Both companies believe that the new crown epidemic is the main reason for the decline in performance to losses. BP chief executive Bernard Looney said: “2020 will always be remembered for the pain and sadness caused by COVID-19. Lives were lost – and livelihoods were destroyed. Our sector was also hit hard. Road and air travel reduced, oil demand, prices and profits have also decreased.”
Nonetheless, the two giants are still confident about the future.
ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said: “Over the past year, ExxonMobil has experienced the most challenging market conditions, although the pandemic has The impact significantly affected our 2020 results, but the strategic plans and restructuring we executed previously allowed us to respond decisively to permanently improve our cost structure, increase the efficiency of our business units and strengthen the company. Expected to be in 2023 , these improvements will save $6 billion in structural costs per year relative to 2019.”
Bernard Looney also said: “This is also a critical year for the company. We launched the Net Zero ambition, set a new strategy to become an integrated energy company and create an offshore wind business in the US. We began to reshape BP – around 10,000 people left the company. We strengthened our finances – eliminating costs and ending large divestments .Through it all, the company’s essential operations have remained safe (it’s been one of our safest years) and reliable, significant new projects have come online. I appreciate our team’s commitment to delivering the energy the world needs, and Thanks to the support we receive from investors and the communities where we work, we expect 2021 to be a much better year for all of us.” </p
