Low crude oil prices and weak refining margins have hit ExxonMobil and rival Chevron’s profits in Q1 of 2016.
ExxonMobil reported a profit of $1.8 billion, a sharp decline from $4.94 billion for the same period in 2015 and its lowest quarterly profit since 1999.
Revenue dropped 28% to $48.7 billion, but it had strong results from its petrochemicals division.
Chevron has reported a quarterly net loss of $725 million.
That compared with a net profit of $2.57 billion for the same period in 2015 and was worse than analysts had expected.
Chevron CEO John Watson said: “We are controlling our spend and getting key projects under construction online, which will boost revenue.”
ExxonMobil shares rose 1.4% in New York on April 29, while Chevron fell 0.6%.
Meanwhile, oil prices hit their highest levels of the year on April 29, driven up by lower US production and a weak dollar.
Brent crude was up 12 cents at $48.26 a barrel in afternoon trading, while US oil rose 57 cents to $46.60.
US oil production has continued to fall in recent months, easing concerns about oversupply, while the dollar has lost almost 2% of its value against other global currencies in the past week.
A weaker US dollar typically contributes to a rise in oil prices, because oil is priced in dollars. When the dollar weakens against other currencies, oil becomes cheaper to buy, pushing up demand.
However, the latest rise in oil prices may be limited by a future increase in Middle East production, according to a note released by Deutsche Bank.
Iraq and the UAE are likely to raise production after maintenance issues are resolved, Deutsche indicated, and Saudi Arabia may also increase production significantly.
However, this may be tempered by events in Latin America, where Venezuela is struggling to maintain its crude output, according to a report from Eurasia Group.
Eurasia Group reported that low oil prices over the past two years have meant Venezuela’s government is running out of cash to keep its state-owned oil pumps operational.
Lawyers representing Amazonian villagers in Ecuador used bribes to secure compensation worth billions of dollars from Chevron, a US judge has ruled today.
The latest ruling means that the Amazonian villagers cannot use US courts to enforce the ruling against Chevron.
Chevron had been found guilty in Ecuador of causing environmental damage to the Lago Agrio region.
The legal team says they will appeal.
In 2011, an Ecuadorean judge ordered Chevron to pay $18.2 billion for “extensively polluting” the Lago Agrio region.
Ecuador’s highest court last year upheld the verdict against Chevron, but reduced the amount of compensation to $9.5 billion.
The alleged environmental damage was done by Texaco between 1964 and 1990. Texaco was later acquired by Chevron.
Chevron has always maintained that it cleaned up the area before handing over the oil field to the Ecuadorean government.
Lawyers representing Amazonian villagers in Ecuador used bribes to secure compensation worth billions of dollars from Chevron
The oil company argued that it only lost the case because the legal team representing the villagers paid nearly $300,000 in bribes in Ecuador.
US district judge Lewis Kaplan in New York has now ruled that Steven Donziger’s legal team used “corrupt means” to win the 2011 case.
Lewis Kaplan described the evidence against Steven Donziger’s team as “voluminous”.
Chevron’s chief executive, John Watson, hailed the ruling as “a resounding victory for Chevron and its shareholders”.
The legal team representing the Ecuadorean villagers has also sued Chevron in Brazil, Argentina and Canada.
But Chevron believes the US judge decision will help them fight their case in other courts.
Some 30,000 local residents, including five different Amazonian tribes, began the lawsuit against Texaco in 1993.
The plaintiffs say that the oil company knowingly dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic waste water and spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil into the rainforest during its operations in north-east Ecuador.
They say the affected area covers 1,700 sq miles on the border with Colombia.
Local residents believe the pollution has led to health problems such as cancer and birth defects.
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