Budget cuts and fuel gluts: A timeline of howthe 2020 oil crash unfolded
DECEMBER 2019
Thousands of miles away from Texas, the coronavirus begins to spread in China. By the time its effects are felt in the U.S. in March, the growing pandemic will have begun to ravage demand for crude, contributing to a historic downturn.
MARCH 7, 2020
Saudi Arabia slashes prices for its crude by the most in more than 30 years. State energy giant Saudi Aramco offers unprecedented discounts in Asia, Europe and the U.S. to entice refiners to use Saudi crude.
MARCH 8, 2020
Oil markets tumble the most since the Gulf War in 1991 after the disintegration of the OPEC+ alliance triggered an all-out price war among the world’s biggest producers. Brent futures sink by 31 percent in seconds after the open of trading, falling to $31 a barrel.
MARCH 10, 2020
Houston exploration and production company Marathon Oil says it is cutting its 2020 drilling budget by 20 percent.
MARCH 16, 2020
Gas prices in Houston plunge 10 cents a gallon to well below $2 a gallon as oil drops below $30 a barrel, down nearly 7 percent.
MARCH 16, 2020
European oil majors Shell and Total announce they’ll cut a combined $14 billion from their budgets.
MARCH 18, 2020
Oil field services giant Halliburton says it will furlough about 3,500 employees at its Houston headquarters for two months amid the price war and the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.
MARCH 19, 2020
The Railroad Commission, which regulates Texas’ oil and gas industry, says it may for the first time since 1973 force producers to reduce output. In May it decides against the move.
MARCH 24, 2020
Houston pipeline and refinery operator Phillips 66 says it will cut more than $3 billion from its budget and suspend several projects.
APRIL 12, 2020
The world’s top oil producers cut global petroleum output by nearly a tenth, putting an end to a devastating price war but not going far enough to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
APRIL 17, 2020
Schlumberger sets the tone for a brutal earnings season for the industry with a $7.4 billion loss in the first quarter.
APRIL 20, 2020
The price of U.S. oil, West Texas Intermediate, plunges to negative territory for the first time, settling at negative-$37 as storage tanks at the point of physical delivery neared capacity. Buyers in effect are being paid to receive their May oil shipments.
MAY 1, 2020
Losses continue for industry linchpins: Exxon Mobil loses $610 million in the first quarter and Houston refining and pipeline company Phillips 66 loses $2.5 billion.
MAY 20, 2020
Oil begins to surge, rising about 70 percent since the start of May. The turnaround comes quicker than most expected but requires painful production cuts and the world’s risky first steps out of coronavirus lockdown.
JUNE 7, 2020
OPEC and its allies agree to a one-month extension of its record oil-production cuts and adopt a stricter approach to ensuring that members don’t pump more oil than they had pledged.
JUNE 8, 2020
BP says it will lay off nearly 10,000 workers by the end of the year as it responds to the oil crash after a self-imposed 90-day moratorium on job cuts.
JULY 2020
Second-quarter results roll in, and they’re often worse than those in the first. Exxon Mobil loses $1.1 billion (its first consecutive quarterly loss in 30 years); Occidental $8.4 billion; Chevron $8.3 billion; and Schlumberger $3.4 billion.
AUG. 11, 2020
Motiva, which operates the largest U.S. refinery in Port Arthur, says it will cut 10 percent of its workforce by September. Meanwhile, bankruptcies are soaring during the third quarter, with a total of 44 industry companies filing for Chapter 11.
AUG. 21, 2020
In one of the earliest signs that the worst of the bust may be over, the number of operating U.S. rigs rises by 10, the first increase since March. The 254 total, however, is still a reminder of how bad things got.
OCT. 8, 2020
Chevron says it will lay off 700 workers in Houston.
OCT. 16, 2020
Financial results in the third quarter bolster the idea that things are getting better, as companies report significantly smaller losses than earlier in the year. Schlumberger loses “just” $82 million and Chevron $207 million.
OCT. 22, 2020
Exxon CEO Darren Woods reverses course and says job cuts are inevitable. The company, which employs about 16,000 in the Houston area, eventually slashes 15 percent of its workforce, or about 14,000 global jobs.
NOV. 25, 2020
The price of U.S. oil jumps to an eight-month high on optimism about a vaccine for the coronavirus.
DEC. 8, 2020
A report finds that the oil field services sector added 2,665 jobs in November, the third straight month of gains, in a sign that drilling and production activity is rising again.
DEC. 19, 2020
The number of operating drilling rigs in the United States rises to the highest level since May as oil prices move within striking distance of $50 a barrel.