The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a massive wave of asset write-offs. Oil companies faced the most "aggressive" ones. In the first three quarters of this year, companies in the United States and Europe revised the value of their businesses by $ 145 billion due to a sharp decline in raw material prices.
It is the most considerable three-quarter adjustment in at least a decade, Report states, citing The Wall Street Journal . Moreover, the entire year promises to be one of the worst in history for the oil and gas industry.
The most severe revision was made by the oil companies Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Total — they accounted for more than one-third of all write-offs. US shale producers, including Concho Resources and Occidental Petroleum, have written off more assets than in the past four years in total.
Analysts explain that companies began to massively revise the value of assets due to the uncertainty of oil demand in the long term, the development of renewable energy sources, and concerns about climate change.
As previously reported, last week, Royal Dutch Shell announced a new write-down of assets in the amount of 3.5 billion to 4.5 billion US dollars. In October, the company reduced the value of its LNG portfolio by just under $ 1 billion. The move followed a $16.8 bn second quarter write-down.
Norway's Equinor on October 29 wrote off $ 2.93 billion from the value of its assets after lowering its long-term forecasts for oil and gas prices.