Yahoo Finance ExxonMobil May Revive North Sea Asset Divestment Process
Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM is gearing up to revive the process of divestment of stakes in U.K. North Sea assets, according to Reuters.
Weak commodity pricing scenario, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, has delayed the process. As we already know, the pandemic has battered global fuel demand and resulted in more than 40% decline in the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude since the beginning of January 2020.
The source revealed that the divestment will fetch lower than the originally estimated $2 billion since the drop in oil prices has made energy businesses relatively less profitable. Reportedly, the sale could generate $1-$1.5 billion, considering the current market weakness.
The leading integrated energy company has also reportedly held discussions with potential and interested buyers for the North Sea properties. Private equity-backed oil and natural gas producers in the North Sea like Chrysaor and NEO Exploration & Production might be the prospective buyers, added the source.
The source also stated that ExxonMobil is gearing up to divest roughly $25 billion of assets across the globe. The move is intended to allocate the divestment proceeds for some key growth projects.
Exxon Mobil Corporation Price
Exxon Mobil Corporation price | Exxon Mobil Corporation Quote
Currently, ExxonMobil carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players in the energy sector include Murphy USA Inc. MUSA, Key Energy Services, Inc. KEGX and CNX Resources Corporation CNX. While Murphy and Key Energy sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CNX Resources carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Murphy USA is likely to see earnings growth of 7% in the next five years.
Key Energy is expected to witness bottom-line growth of 97.2% in 2020.
CNX Resources has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2020 in the past 60 days.
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