RE: Paper v Physical Price29 Apr 2026 15:06
Really get annoyed by these comments, where do they need to clear the debt pile, why? Name an oiler that has no debt or is actively trying to clear debt to zero. Oil and Gas companies life cycle is debt - pay down debt to less than earnings - debt - pay down debt to less than earnings, wash, rinse, repeat. All the super majors, giants and mids are all indebted for the slow payout O&G gives from investing. Cradle to Grave, from exploration, to production, to decommissioning and the capital invested along the way. You don't want a net debtted organisation then O&G isn't for you invest in services companies that only have revenues not massive capital costs to make money.
The board have categorically stated the aim is to get to 1.0x or less, the current 2.3x is also not a fair representation because if they had received full payments from Ghana then it would be 1.4x and that's despite selling assets that are not included reducing overall earnings. For context BP for 2025 was 3.0x and that's not constantly considered a basket case.
Earnings will be up this year and debt will be down, they could even go under $1B net debt and be 1.1x or lower.