西方石油公司减记14亿美元资产

据5月6日Energy Voice报道，西方石油公司对旗下一家管道子公司的投资进行了14亿美元的减记，削减了资本支出，并在油价出现历史性暴跌后撤回了今年的财测。

总部位于休斯顿的西方石油公司于周二表示，该公司第一季度的亏损包括了对Western Midstream Partners LP股权投资相关的减损支出。这家页岩气生产商将2020年的预算削减至24亿至26亿美元，较最初的计划减少了50%以上。纽约股市盘后交易中，该股上涨4.4%，至16美元。

在去年以370亿美元收购阿纳达科石油公司后，西方石油公司的债务负担翻了两番。

自油价两个月前开始暴跌以来，该公司首席执行官霍卢布已大幅削减资本支出、减薪并削减股息。Western Midstream是西方石油公司为降低杠杆率而寻求出售的旗舰资产之一。

然而，霍卢布的策略再次受到打击，因为将收购的阿纳达科资产出售给道达尔公司(Total SA)的计划受阻——此次出售，以及加纳的另一次出售，预计将筹集50亿美元左右。

道琼斯援引消息人士的话报导称，西方石油公司最近向小型投资银行Moelis咨询如何在收入面临严重压力的情况下减轻债务负担。据道琼斯报道，预计该银行将与一个董事会顾问委员会合作。

西方石油公司第一季度在利率掉期上亏损6.7亿美元，在国际油气资产上亏损5.8亿美元。该公司表示，这些亏损部分被原油套期保值带来的10亿美元收益所抵消。

洪伟立 摘译自 Energy Voice

原文如下：

Occidental Petroleum takes $1.4 billion writedown, cuts budget on oil rout

Occidental Petroleum Corp. took a $1.4 billion writedown related to an investment in a pipeline affiliate, cut capital spending and withdrew its guidance for the year after a historic collapse in oil prices.

Occidental’s first-quarter loss included impairment charges related to its equity investment in Western Midstream Partners LP, the Houston-based company said in a statement Tuesday. The shale producer is reducing its budget for this year to between $2.4 billion and $2.6 billion, a drop of more than 50% from its initial plan. Shares rose 4.4% to $16 in after-market trading in New York, while Western Midstream was little changed.

Occidental is more exposed than most of its rivals to the crash in crude markets after quadrupling its debt load to help finance last year’s $37 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Although Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub has so far survived an activist intervention by billionaire Carl Icahn, she’s now faced with a mountain of borrowings that start to come due next year.

Hollub has slashed capital spending, cut salaries and reduced dividends since the oil-price plunge began two months ago. Western Midstream is among the crown jewel assets that Occidental has sought to sell to reduce leverage.

Hollub’s strategy took another hit as Algeria opted to block the sale of assets acquired in the Anadarko deal to Total SA. The sale, along with another in Ghana, was expected to raise somewhere in the range of $5 billion.

Occidental recently hired boutique investment bank Moelis & Co. to help examine ways to reduce its debt load, Dow Jones reported, citing unnamed sources. The bank is expected to work with an advisory committee of the board of directors, Dow Jones reported.

Occidental had a $670 million first-quarter loss on interest rate swaps and $580 million in charges related to international oil and gas properties. The company said the charges were partially offset by $1 billion of gains on crude oil hedges.