Cash Flow of World’s Oil Drillers Heads for Record $348 Billion
- Independent explorers’ free cash flow seen at $348 billion
- Key to profits is executives constraining capital investment
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The world’s publicly traded independent oil producers will make record profits this year, surpassing the levels reached when crude hit an all-time high near $150 a barrel more than a decade ago, according to Rystad Energy.
Combined free cash flow from the sector is expected to surge to $348 billion, beating the previous high of $311 billion in 2008, Rystad said. Key to the turnaround is U.S. shale, with the industry expected to reverse years of losses in 2021 and make “super profits” of nearly $60 billion of free cash flow before hedges.