BP and Shell are expected to post lower profits this week as the industry giants deal with struggling oil prices amid a global slowdown in demand, City AM has reported.
Both firms are due to publish their third-quarter earnings this week either side of the chancellor's Budget, with BP's expected on Tuesday and Shell's on Thursday.
The companies both warned of falling profit margins earlier this month amid a broad faltering in demand for oil across both the consumer and industrial sectors.
Prices had been driven higher in recent weeks due to rising tensions between Iran and Israel leading to fears energy sites in the Middle East could be impacted.
But Reuters this morning reported oil had slumped more than 4% after Iran downplayed Israeli strikes.
Earlier this month, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) downgraded its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and lowered its projection for 2025 – its third consecutive cut of the outlook.
City AM reports Jefferies analysts predicted Shell’s third-quarter net income to come in at £5.4billion, down 14% on the same period last year.
While a 30% year-on-year drop is expected in BP's net income to £1.7billion.
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was down 27-points at 8,242 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were down 4.01%, trading at $73.00 a barrel.
No companies reporting today