Yields on longer-dated U.S. Treasuries fell for a fourth straight day, with the benchmark 10-year yield hitting a fresh two-week low of 1.564pc and helping to ease inflation worries.
Exxon locked out 650 workers represented by the United Steelworkers union (USW) from the facility on May 1 in a dispute over a new contract. The sprawling 2,700 acre complex, which makes fuel and lubricants, continues to operate with managers and temporary workers.
Conoco said its total average realized price was $45.36 per barrel of oil equivalent in the quarter, much higher than the $33.21 it earned in the last three months of 2020.
The company also outlined a plan to cut its gross debt by $5 billion over the next five years and its intention to exit its 10% stake in Canadian producer Cenovus Energy Inc by the fourth quarter of 2022.
Workers could be locked out of the plant Saturday morning and replacement crews put in their place if USW members have not voted on the company's latest offer, the people familiar with the talks have said.
Staff representatives of the USW met with Beaumont refinery officials earlier in the day Thursday but did not pass along an offer, according to the people.
The 55,000-bpd gas oil hydrotreater was shut on Jan. 11 as part of an overhaul of the large gasoline-producing fludic catalytic cracker (FCC) at the Baytown refinery, the sources said. The FCC restarted on Thursday after being shut for 11 weeks.
Engine No. 1, which counts pension fund California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) among its top supporters, said it is asking shareholders to vote against the re-election of Exxon directors Steven Kandarian, Douglas Oberhelman, Samuel Palmisano and Wan Zulkiflee.
Exxon is asking the Texas court to rule that the massive storm, caused when an arctic air mass swept the central United States, was a natural disaster.
US gas demand and prices soared last month when freezing temperatures hit as far south as Texas, where 4.3 million homes lost power.
Exxon posted an online notice to nearby residents that the refinery was starting up after a shut-down driven by severe cold weather and the curtailment of natural gas supply.
Yet they also felt the pain. Demand for oil evaporated in early 2020 as governments imposed travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders to slow the COVID-19 pandemic's spread.