In his report, published by the Swiss newspaper "Luton", the writer, Lauron Horvath, said that if oil had started in 2020 at a price exceeding $ 60 a barrel, then it had gone through a rollercoaster cycle between minus $ 37 before it rose to $ 40.

The writer pointed out that the largest oil companies are often seen as rich, but the truth is that private companies have accumulated more than $ 250 billion in debt, and as a result, these companies incurred billions in losses.

The writer explained that during the coming months or years, we may witness mergers, as long as governments accept that their surplus energy - that is, oil - is transferred to foreign hands.

The report highlights the losses incurred by some foreign companies such as the American oil and gas company, ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConoccoPhillips, in addition to British Petroleum (BP). The British company, Royal Dutch Shell, and France's Total.

ExxonMobil

The largest US oil company, Exxon Mobil, incurred a loss of $ 22.4 billion during 2020, after its profits in 2019 amounted to about $ 14 billion.

In light of this, CEO Darren Woods believes that "last year was the toughest market his company has faced."

In addition, sales fell to $ 182 billion, the lowest level since 2002, after reaching nearly $ 260 billion in 2019.

In addition, ExxonMobil has approximately $ 67.6 billion in debt.

Chevron Corporation

The second American company, Chevron, lost about $ 5.5 billion in 2020 compared to profits of 2.9 billion in 2019. Its sales volume fell to less than $ 100 billion, to about 94.7 billion.

And after laying off more than 10,000 employees, at a time when the United States is expected to reduce its investment and exploration to $ 14 billion, about 7 billion less than in 2019.

Although it was a difficult year, Chevron bought the shale oil and gas company Noble Energy for $ 13 billion.

This step reveals a possible merger of the oil and gas market.

It is also expected that the "Exxon Mobil" company will take over the "Chevron" company, which currently has a debt of about $ 34.8 billion.

In April of last year, oil prices reached minus $ 37.63 a barrel for the first time in history (Reuters)

ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips, the third American company, announced a loss of about $ 2.7 billion for the year 2020, compared to a profit of about 7.2 billion in 2019.

It is worth noting that the company's debt remains lower compared to other companies, as it is estimated at $ 13.4 billion, and it will not be prey to other oil companies, unless the merger allows them to accumulate their costs and increase their profits.

British Petroleum

The writer noted that for the first time in 10 years, after the oil spill of the Deepwater Horizon platform, British Petroleum (BP) recorded a loss of $ 5.7 billion against a profit of $ 10 billion in 2019.

In this context, Bernard Looney, CEO of the company, believes that "the fourth quarter of the year was difficult compared to the whole of 2020."

On top of that, the company shed thousands of jobs in order to maintain a dividend of 5.25 cents per share.

BP wants to sell $ 25 billion in assets and oil and gas fields over the next four years.

The goal is to find funds to pay for its investments in green energies and to continue its profits, given that the company's debts amount to about $ 39 billion.

Total Corporation

Total, France, saw a record net loss of $ 7.2 billion, compared to a profit of $ 11.2 billion in 2019.

"The year 2020 witnessed two major crises, the Covid-19 crisis, which severely affected global demand, and the oil crisis, which pushed Brent prices to a level below $ 20 a barrel during the second quarter of the year," the company's CEO, Patrick Pouyani, said.

The net profit was also affected by asset cuts of $ 8.1 billion, including 7 billion in relation to oil sands (oil sands) in Canada.

In terms of employment, the company laid off 700 employees, a number that is much smaller than its competitors, while Total's net debt was about $ 37.13 billion.