Oil companies give cool outlook

LONDON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA dashed hopes for an imminent turnaround for the oil industry, saying sluggish economic recovery was weighing on energy demand and prices.

The three posted big drops in quarterly earnings on Thursday after crude oil and natural gas prices plummeted and refining margins were squeezed.

Exxon, the world’s largest oil company by market value, said net income fell a slightly-larger-than-expected 68 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2008, to $4.73 billion (2.86 billion pounds).

Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, said it was cutting 5,000 jobs after net profit dropped 73 percent in the quarter to $2.99 billion.

Reuters