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After Chevron last week said it will increase its capex for 2019 for the first time in four years, this week two more oil majors joined the ranks of optimists in the oil industry: although they are not raising their budgets in any significant way. Hess Corp. and ConocoPhillips both expect to perform better next year. Conoco issued a statement presenting its spending plans on Monday, saying it would allocate US$6.1 billion for capital expenditures, expecting production of between 1.3 and 1.35 million bpd, excluding Libya, versus 1.356 million bpd in 2017, also excluding Libya. However, the 2015 figure would be higher than the latest quarterly production figure available from Conoco: the company said in its third-quarter report it produced 1.224 million bpd of crude. In more—and more significant—good news, Conoco said it expected to generate free cash flow at West Texas Intermediate prices of US$40 or higher. As investment banks begin to revise downwards their price forecasts for oil benchmarks, the ability to be free cash flow positive at WTI of US$40 per barrel would certainly help Conoco enhance its attractiveness for shareholders. A plan to increase dividend payouts to more than 30 percent of cash from operations […]
