Crude-oil futures fell from a one-month high of more than $58 a barrel, dragged down by a decline in natural-gas prices.
Here is Wednesday’s roundup of oil and energy news:
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EXXON’S MAMMOTH PROFIT: Exxon Mobil posted a 4.3% drop in fourth-quarter net income, though it earned $39.5 billion for the year, the largest profit in U.S. history. It earned $10.25 billion in the quarter, on revenue of $90.03 billion. Revenue rose 1.9% for the year to $377.64 billion, more than the 2005 gross domestic product of Belgium. Major integrated oil companies saw their fourth-quarter earnings drop significantly, as commodity prices were down significantly from the year-ago spikes caused by U.S. Gulf hurricanes. Marathon Oil’s profit fell 15%.
•Key Report to Blame Humans for Global Warming: A much-awaited international report will probably say there is a 90% chance that global warming was caused by human activity, delegates to a Paris climate-change conference said. The report, which must be unanimously approved, is to be released Friday and is considered an authoritative document that could influence government and industrial policy world-wide.
•Shell Profit Rises: Royal Dutch Shell said its quarterly net profit rose 21%. Shell said it expects to have more than replaced its oil and gas reserves in 2006, showing it is rebuilding them after a string of downgrades in 2004 and 2005.
•BP to Sell Refinery: Petroplus Holdings said it plans to buy BP’s Coryton refinery for $1.4 billion, in a deal that will increase its processing capacity by more than half.
•Oil Spill in Vietnam: An oil spill of unknown origin has polluted Vietnam’s China Beach, the name U.S. forces gave to the stretch of seafront between Danang City and Hoi An, AFP reports.
•Exxon Valdez Crude Still Lingers: Lingering crude from the nation’s largest oil spill has weathered only slightly almost 18 years after the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground and fouled hundreds of miles of Alaska shoreline, a new federal study concludes.
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