Energy

Bloomberg Occidental Petroleum Corp cut its quarterly dividend by 91% to the lowest since at least the 1970s amid the pandemic-driven collapse in energy demand that has strained the oil explorer’s ability to shoulder its debt. Occidental shareholders will receive a penny per share on July 15, the Houston-based company said in a statement. The move extends a cut announced …

Bloomberg Chevron Corp is planning a 10% to 15% reduction in its global workforce this year, the biggest cut to headcount yet among global oil majors following the Covid-19 pandemic. The cuts equate to about 6,000 of its 45,000 non-gas station employees and may be a precursor to staffing reductions at Big Oil rivals such as BP Plc and Royal …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp shareholders voted against separating the roles of chairman and chief executive officer as the oil giant navigates a historic collapse in crude prices. Just 33% of investors backed the proposal to create an independent chairman position, compared with 41% last year. Proxy advisers Glass Lewis & Co and Egan-Jones Proxy Services had recommended that shareholders vote …

Bloomberg Even if the economy continues to recover and a second wave of the pandemic is less damaging than the first, US shale drillers may still take at least a year before moving rigs back into the field, according to the leader of an oilfield-services company. Precision Drilling Corp CEO Kevin Neveu said activity in US shale basins is in …

Bloomberg The Trump administration lost another bid to kill a tariff loophole on imported solar equipment, enabling American developers to continue skirting its duties for the time being. A US trade court rejected the administration’s request to clear the way for removal of a tariff exemption on bifacial, or two-sided, panels. US Court of International Trade Judge Gary Katzmann said …

Bloomberg Who needs a loss-making, inflexible oil refinery in a world where demand for petroleum has been obliterated? We’re about to find out. When consumption of transport fuels collapsed this year because of coronavirus, much of the industry moved into survival mode, cutting processing rates and even temporarily stopping refining in some cases. While that helped prop up the industry’s …

Bloomberg Europe is betting on emissions-free electricity for big industry in its economic recovery package, drafting measures to scale up the production of hydrogen. The world’s most climate-ambitious stimulus package, which was to be unveiled on Wednesday, is poised to earmark tens of billions of euros for hydrogen technology as well as infrastructure for clean energy. European Commission President Ursula …

Bloomberg Japanese natural gas company Tokyo Gas Co Ltd has made a bet that the future of renewable power will be floating at sea. The more than $22 million investment in developer of floating platforms for wind turbines Principle Power Inc is a sign that fossil fuel companies are continuing to invest to prepare their businesses for a low-carbon future. …

Bloomberg Just months after coming to terms with its lenders on a debt recast, India’s largest wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd is seeking to loosen some conditions. The Pune-based company is asking its lenders to accept new convertible debt in place of interest payments due this quarter on its restructured loans, people familiar with the matter said, asking not …

Bloomberg US clean-energy startup, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), raised an additional $84 million from major investors in Europe and Asia, underscoring that the appetite remains to back new technologies which could mitigate climate change. As the world looks to ramp up the use of intermittent renewable energy, it needs to add forms of flexible clean power that can be turned …