Record loss for oil giants in 2020

The five supermajors Exxonmobil, BP, Shell, Chevron and Total recorded a combined loss of $76 billion in 2020. The downturn in the Covid-19 pandemic and the acceleration of the energy transition have created a new reality for the world’s oil and gas industry, whose production will reach the lowest peak earlier than expected. Most of this loss can be attributed to asset write-downs and write-offs: the majors have revalued their strategy to focus on energy transition and become less dependent on oil. Their combined production of oil and gas declined by almost 5%, or 0.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, in 2020 compared to the previous year.