Sentence examples for downstream businesses from inspiring English sources
Our downstream businesses could also be subject to policy and regulatory decisions of an independent Scotland.
Alcoa's chief executive, Klaus Kleinfeld, said the company had strong performance in its mid- and downstream businesses.
But it said the £12.2bn acquisition of British Energy would boost earnings and reinforce the balance between its upstream and downstream businesses.
Wintershall, a German oil producer, and e.ON, a German utility, recently swapped shares in various downstream businesses for a stake in one of Gazprom's big gas fields.
Chevron has said it will reduce spending by $1 billion this year on downstream businesses, which include refining, marketing and transportation.
Bob Dudley, the oil firm's chief executive, said he was pleased with the results: "BP delivered strong operating performance throughout 2013, with increased asset reliability and major project delivery in both our upstream and downstream businesses.
"Downstream conditions are likely to be difficult for the next several years," Michael K. Wirth, executive vice president of Chevron's global downstream business, said in a statement.
A drop in refining margins from processing oil into fuels weighed on earnings and pushed the so-called downstream business into a loss.
BP said in January that it would have to axe a further 3,000 jobs worldwide in its downstream business – including refining, marketing and distribution – by the end of 2017, on top of the 4,000 cuts announced last year under a swingeing overhaul to slash costs.
High oil prices account for some of that, but even in 1998, when oil prices crashed, the upstream end contributed a disproportionately high share of profits.Downstream doldrumsIn stark contrast, the downstream business is lousy, whatever the oil price; most oil majors would happily shed a number of their refineries, if only they could get a reasonable price for them.
These days, while Germany has chosen to abandon nuclear energy, a major German utility is currently negotiating a deal with Gazprom that would give Russia a foothold in Europe's downstream business, and Gazprom is achieving end-user access through its first purchase of a German supplier.
