Majors under pressure to maintain momentum

摘要

The majors enter the forthcoming second-quarter results season under pressure to build on their resilient performance in the first quarter. The majors' upstream operations benefited from higher oil prices in April-June compared with a year earlier. Atlantic basin crude benchmark North Sea Dated averaged $50/bl, up by $4/bl on a year earlier. Natural gas prices in the US and Europe increased on the year, and continued momentum on cost reductions should provide further support.