2023 OGJ100 earnings down on lower commodity prices
Due to the decrease in commodity prices in 2023, the latest OGJ100 survey indicates that the financial performance of the group stayed solid for 2023 but declined compared with the prior year.
Oil & Gas Journal’s look at the leading 100 oil and gas producing companies based outside the US allows for comparison of the size and results of the entities. For many of the national oil companies in the report though, no information on assets, revenues, earnings, or capital expenditures is available. Companies in OGJ100 are grouped by regions according to the location of their corporate headquarters.
All financial results in this report are indicated in US dollars. Due to exchange rate variation, the number of financial results can be significantly affected when translated into US dollars.
Canadian producers
A sample of 15 Canadian companies included in OGJ100 reported a 19% decrease in total revenues in 2023 to $169.8 billion. The combined net income was $22 billion in 2023, compared with a combined net income of $34 billion for the same group a year earlier.
The 2023 average WTI-WCS (Western Canadian Select) differential at Hardisty, Alta. remained similar to that of 2022. Differentials expanded notably in fourth-quarter 2023, however, especially in December, primarily caused by increased production and outages at Alberta refineries, resulting in exports surpassing pipeline capacity.
During 2023, the Canadian dollar depreciated against the US dollar, with the average exchange rate dropping to $0.74 per Canadian dollar from $0.77 per Canadian dollar in 2022. This depreciation benefited the company’s price realizations in 2023 compared with 2022.
Combined, the Canadian group’s assets at yearend 2023 increased to $248.7 billion from $239.6 billion at yearend 2022. This was partly due to the weaker Canadian dollar relative to US dollar on December 31, 2023.
The Canadian group’s collective capital expenditures in 2023 increased 11% to $17.8 billion from $16 billion a year ago. The group’s worldwide oil reserves increased 4% from a year ago to 26.1 billion bbl, while natural gas reserves increased 14% to 33,407 bcf.
In 2023, Suncor Energy Inc. saw its net income decline to $6.1 billion from $6.97 billion in 2022. The company finalized the sale of its wind and solar assets in first-quarter 2023 and its UK E&P portfolio in the second quarter. Additionally, Suncor acquired the remaining 45.89% working interest in Fort Hills through two transactions, establishing full ownership of the Fort Hills project. Suncor delivered record oil sands production of 689,600 b/d in 2023, compared with 665,200 b/d in 2022, reflecting the company’s increased working interest in Fort Hills. Oil Sands production also included record production from Syncrude and Firebag.
Cenovus Energy Inc. reported a net income of $3 billion for 2023, compared with earnings of $4.95 billion in 2022. In 2023, Cenovus’s total upstream production averaged 778,700 boe/d, compared with 786,200 boe/d in 2022, reflecting the impact of wildfire activity in Alberta in second-quarter 2023. US refining crude oil throughput increased to 459,700 b/d in 2023 compared with 400,800 b/d in 2022, driven by the acquisition of the remaining 50% working interest in the Toledo Refinery and the restart of the Superior Refinery in 2023.
Imperial Oil Ltd.’s net income was $4.89 billion for 2021, down from $7.34 billion in 2022, due to lower realized commodity prices and lower volumes. Lower commodity prices reduced earnings by $1.6 billion. Lower volumes were primarily driven by steam cycle timing at Cold Lake, and the absence of XTO Energy Canada production.
European companies
According to asset rankings in the 2023 OGJ100, Shell PLC held the top position among European companies, followed by TotalEnergies SE and bp PLC. Data regarding Russian companies are unavailable.
Shell’s net income was $19.36 billion in 2024, compared with $42.3 billion in 2022. Adjusted earnings in 2023 were $28.25 billion, compared with $39.87 billion 2022. The decrease was mainly driven by lower realized oil and gas prices, lower volumes and lower refining margins, partly offset by higher LNG trading and optimization margins, and higher marketing margins.
bp’s profit for 2023 was $15.8 billion, compared with a loss of $1.35 billion in 2022. Total hydrocarbon production for the group was 5.1% lower compared with 2022. The production decrease in the equity-accounted entities is due to absence of bp share of production from Rosneft. Excluding the impact of Rosneft, total hydrocarbon production for the group was 2.6% higher compared with 2022.
TotalEnergies reported a net income of $21.5 billion in 2023, compared with earnings of $21 billion in 2022. TotalEnergies’ capital expenditures increased to $17.7 billion in 2023 from $15.7 billion in 2022. Hydrocarbon production, excluding share from Novatek, was 2.5 million boe/d in 2023, up 2% year-on-year. Gas and associated products (condensates and NGLs) represented roughly 44% of TotalEnergies’ overall oil and gas production in 2023, compared with 53% in 2022 and 55% in 2021. Crude oil and bitumen represented 56% in 2023, compared to 47% in 2022 and 45% in 2021.
Latin American producers
Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) reported a net income of $25 billion in 2023, compared with earnings of $36.7 billion in 2022, due to lower commodity prices. The company’s capital expenditure increased to $12 billion in 2023 from $9.6 billion a year earlier. In 2023, Petrobras’ total production of oil and gas was 2.78 million boe/d, a 4% increase from 2022.
Mexican state energy giant Pemex’s earnings in 2023 fell to $460 million from $5.6 billion in 2022. In 2023, Pemex invested in 12 new developments, six of them in offshore shallow water fields and six in onshore fields. Pemex’s crude oil production increased by 5.1% from 2022 to 2023, averaging 1.85 million b/d in 2023. Natural gas production increased 4.4% from 2022 to 2023.
Asian companies
PetroChina Co. Ltd is again the largest Asia Pacific company in the OGJ100 by assets, followed by Petronas and China National Offshore Oil Corp. Ltd (CNOOC).
PetroChina’s net income increased to $25.5 billion in 2023 from $24.3 billion in 2022, thanks to increasing selling prices of oil and gas products and the increase in sales volume. In 2023, PetroChina produced 937 million bbl of crude oil, a 3.4% increase from 2022’s 906 million bbl. Domestic production was 774 million bbl in 2023, up by 0.8% from a year ago. Overseas crude oil output grew 17.7% to 163.4 million bbl in 2023.
CNOOC’s profits decreased to $17.6 billion in 2023 from $21 billion in 2022. The company produced 678 million boe, up 8.7% year-over-year. In 2023, the company’s reserve replacement ratio maintained at a high level of 180%.
Petronas made a profit of $17.7 billion in 2023, down from a profit of $23 billion a year earlier, due to unfavorable average realized prices, partly cushioned by higher sales volume mainly from petroleum products and foreign exchange impact.
Middle East companies
Saudi Aramco’s total assets dropped to $661 billion by the end of 2023 from $664.8 billion in 2022. With a revenue decline of 18%, the company’s profit decreased to $121.3 billion in 2023 from $161 billion in 2022. The decreases in revenue and profits were primarily attributable to lower crude oil prices and lower volumes sold, as well as lower refining and chemicals products prices.
Similarly, QatarEnergy’s assets and profits for 2023 both declined compared with the previous year, mainly due to lower gas prices.
OGJ100
Conglin Xu | Managing Editor-Economics
Conglin Xu, Managing Editor-Economics, covers worldwide oil and gas market developments and macroeconomic factors, conducts analytical economic and financial research, generates estimates and forecasts, and compiles production and reserves statistics for Oil & Gas Journal. She joined OGJ in 2012 as Senior Economics Editor.
Xu holds a PhD in International Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She was a Short-term Consultant at the World Bank and Summer Intern at the International Monetary Fund.
Laura Bell-Hammer | Statistics Editor
Laura Bell-Hammer has been the Statistics Editor for the Oil & Gas Journal since 1994. She was the Survey Editor for two years prior to her current position with OGJ. While working with OGJ, she also was a contributing editor for Oil & Gas Financial Journal. Before joining OGJ, she worked for Vintage Petroleum in Tulsa, gaining her oil and gas industry knowledge.