Majors face heaviest toll yet from oil downturn

London

OIL majors are expected to post the worst set of earnings since the onset of the sector's downturn, with writedowns likely to dominate headlines as companies respond to a further drop in the price of crude in the third quarter.

Between Oct 26 and Nov 12 the world's top listed oil and gas producers will reveal just how badly they've been hurt by the 17 per cent quarter-on-quarter fall in prices.

Lower fuel costs should provide a little upside for their refining businesses, but the overall pain is expected to be acute. "Earnings are likely to be the lowest of this downturn," Morgan Stanley analysts said, forecasting an avera…