Word: bbl
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...coincidence that Kelly is now Southwest's CEO. While oil prices are currently bobbing around $55 per bbl., this year Southwest is paying just $26 per bbl. for 85% of its oil, thanks to the aggressive hedging strategy he put in place several years ago. The industry overall lost about $4 billion as a result of higher oil prices last year; in contrast, Southwest's hedging reduced its energy costs by $455 million, helping bump its 2004 earnings to $313 million. According to Vaughn Cordle of Airline Forecasts, oil would have to shoot past an average of $65.30 per bbl...
...sell them in a short-term cash crunch. Those hedges would have protected about a third of its fuel needs. Continental has no hedges in oil-futures contracts this year. United Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2002, has 30% of its fuel hedged at $45 per bbl...
...cover $26 barrels of oil for anyone, no matter how much cash the airlines can put up front. That's why Southwest's fuel savings will decrease with time. In 2009, for example, the airline will be able to buy just a quarter of its fuel at $35 per bbl. No partner is willing to cover hedges that low now that oil has passed $50 per bbl. "We're willing to write hedges," says John Kilduff, an energy analyst with brokerage firm Fimat. "The question is, Does it make sense to be locking in crude oil when prices are this...
...second to Southwest in benefiting from hedging, according to industry analyst Cordle. The low-cost carrier, which largely serves the West Coast, has netted more than $100 million in savings from its smart hedging positions since 2002. This year the airline will buy half its fuel at $30 per bbl. But like Southwest's, that spread will diminish by the end of the decade. By then, all airlines will have to face the reality that their core business--not their fancy financial instruments--can be the only guarantor of success. JetBlue, the profitable low-cost carrier, is less hedged than...
...ExxonMobil, success has bred an odd problem. With oil prices hovering near $50 per bbl. recently, the energy behemoth has been churning out profits. Over the past 12 months (through the end of March), earnings gushed to $28 billion--almost 40% above the previous year--on revenues of $306 billion. With minimal debt, the oil giant, based in Irving, Texas, is sitting on a $30 billion hoard of cash. The problem: What will the company do with all that loot...