HOUSTON (Agefi-Dow Jones)--U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil has lowered its forecast for oil prices over the next seven years, according to internal documents seen by The Wall Street Journal.

As part of an internal financial programming process conducted in the fall, Exxon lowered its projections for each of the next seven years by 11% to 17%, the documents show.

This downward revision suggests that the oil group anticipates repercussions for most of the next decade after the coronavirus pandemic. The fossil fuel sector is also faced with increasingly fierce competition from renewable energy sources, the development of electric vehicles and the prospect of increasingly strict regulations throughout the world to combat global warming. climatic.

Unlike some of its competitors and despite requests from some investors, Exxon does not publish its internal commodity price forecasts. The company believes this data is critical to understanding the company's plans and the future value of its assets.

In 2019, Exxon's internal forecasts called for an average price of $62 a barrel for Brent North Sea oil for the next five years, then rising to $72 a barrel in 2026 and 2027, the documents show.

This summer, the group lowered its forecast for a barrel of Brent over the next five years to between 50 and 55 dollars and that for 2026 and 2027 to 60 dollars, the documents, which are dated September, show.

Brent is trading around $48.20 on Wednesday, after a rise in prices this week that took prices back to their highest levels since the spring.

-Christopher M. Matthews, The Wall Street Journal

(French version Valérie Venck) ed: ECH

Agefi-Dow Jones The financial newswire

UPDATE: Exxon lowers forecast for oil prices through 2027 - documents

(Update: spokesperson's comment, context)

HOUSTON (Agefi-Dow Jones)--U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil has lowered its forecast for oil prices over the next seven years, according to internal documents seen by The Wall Street Journal.

As part of an internal financial programming process conducted in the fall, Exxon lowered its projections for each of the next seven years by 11% to 17%, the documents show.

This downward revision suggests that the oil group anticipates repercussions for most of the next decade after the coronavirus pandemic. The fossil fuel sector is also faced with increasingly fierce competition from renewable energy sources, the development of electric vehicles and the prospect of increasingly strict regulations throughout the world to combat global warming. climatic.

Unlike some of its competitors and despite requests from some investors, Exxon does not publish its internal commodity price forecasts. The company believes this data is critical to understanding the company's plans and the future value of its assets.

In 2019, Exxon's internal forecasts called for an average price of $62 a barrel for Brent North Sea oil for the next five years, then rising to $72 a barrel in 2026 and 2027, the documents show.

This summer, the group lowered its forecast for a barrel of Brent over the next five years to between 50 and 55 dollars and that for 2026 and 2027 to 60 dollars, the documents, which are dated September, show.

Brent is trading around $48.20 on Wednesday, after a rise in prices this week that took prices back to their highest levels since the spring.

A spokesperson for the group declined to comment on Exxon's current price forecast.

Years of falling oil prices threaten to increase financial pressure on Exxon, which posted three straight quarterly losses this year for the first time in its history.

Exxon is also struggling to cover its dividend, which costs it $15 billion a year at current oil prices. The group therefore goes into debt to finance this expenditure.

The group is cutting costs and cutting jobs, but the price per barrel would need to be between $55 and $65 in 2021 to cover its investments and dividend, analysts say.

-Christopher M. Matthews, The Wall Street Journal

(French version Valérie Venck) ed: ECH

Agefi-Dow Jones The financial newswire

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

25-11-20 1340GMT

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