Oil majors sustain profits despite crude’s slide
Three years into a dramatic slump in oil prices, big oil companies seem to have adapted their businesses to a point where they can still generate cash and reduce debt levels even at current oil prices. European oil giants Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and Statoil ASA kicked off the sector's second quarter earnings Thursday season with a flurry of reports that highlighted growing cash flow and sustained profits. Though notably better than at the start of 2016 when the price of crude plummeted to $27 a barrel, oil is still more than 50% weaker than in 2014 when prices started to fall. The supply glut that sparked the crash has proved stubbornly persistent despite efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers to limit output, prompting several large banks to cut their oil price forecasts in recent months. Click Read More below for more of the story.