Oil majors' cash flows set to double in Q3

According to Dow Jones Newswires, the broker had estimated that oil majors combined operating cash flows probably rose to roughly $60bn over the three months to June.

That would mark quarter-on-quarter growth in companies' cash flows of 14% and a near doubling when compared against 2020.

HSBC also pointed out that the recent spike in crude oil would not be reflected in companies' third quarter results, having only started at the tail end of September - unlike in natural gas.

Nevertheless, the analysts were also expecting "plenty of confident messaging on cash distributions."