Singapore O&G stocks ride oil rally; industry consolidation, manpower among challenges

Merger negotiations between Keppel and Sembmarine could lead to more competition, margin erosion for smaller companies, say market watchers

Uma Devi

Published Thu, Sep 16, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Oil and gas

Singapore

SINGAPORE-LISTED oil and gas (O&G) players mostly turned in a positive set of results for the first half of 2021, amid a recovery in crude oil prices.

Bad weather and rebounding demand have helped push crude oil futures up this year. The October contract for ICE Brent futures is up 43.8 per cent year to date, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures have risen 47.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Big Oil giants are reporting higher earnings and raising their dividends. Royal Dutch Shell's adjusted earnings for the second quarter of the year rose to US$5.5 billion from US$638 million in the corresponding period last year. Dividends rose to US$0.24 per share from US$0.16.

Over at ExxonMobil, Q2 earnings came in at US$4.7 billion versus a loss of US$1.1 billion in the year-ago period. Chevron posted earnings of US$3.1 billion versus a loss of US$8.…