Most petroleum companies’ profits declined significantly along with a fall in oil prices.
For example, BHP-Billiton, the leading Australian-British mining, metal and petroleum company, plans to write off its assets in shale production by more than $7m. This decision is due to the current unprofitability of this type of oil development.
The analysts are sure now that the global oil industry will decrease investments into geological exploration and production by 20%. Many companies are going to postpone or cancel projects scheduled for 2016-2020 with the total value of $170bn. During the previous year 258 thousand jobs were cut because of the bankruptcies and spending reduction.
