HOUSTON, March 9, 2026, 08:48 CDT
W&T Offshore posted early 2025 numbers on Monday, revealing a deeper full-year loss and a sharp falloff in free cash flow. The Gulf producer, which delayed release of its year-end figures last week, now anticipates a net loss of $150.1 million on revenue of $501.5 million, according to a new filing. That compares with a $87.1 million loss in 2024.
The timing couldn’t be worse for smaller offshore players scrambling for cleanup collateral and caught in wild oil price swings. U.S. crude popped as high as $119.48 a barrel on Monday, then pulled back. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo didn’t mince words: if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, alternative supply “would be a drop in the ocean.” Reuters
Revenue looked headed lower, despite a slight bump in output. W&T reported its average oil selling price slid to $64.09 a barrel from $75.28 in 2024. Production ticked up, hitting 34,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day—up from 33,300. Adjusted results, which exclude certain items, showed a loss of 37 cents per diluted share. Free cash flow dropped steeply, down to $1.5 million from $44.9 million.
The balance sheet tightened up. W&T reported $184.5 million in liquidity at year-end, with $140.6 million of that in cash. Net debt dropped to $210.3 million, down from $284.2 million at the close of the previous year.
Just four days back, the board opted to hold its quarterly dividend steady at 1 cent per share, making it nine quarters in a row at that level. “Returning value to our shareholders” is still the priority, according to Chief Executive Tracy Krohn. W&T Offshore, Inc.
W&T flagged a U.S. Interior Department proposal published Monday in the Federal Register, which would overhaul Bureau of Ocean Energy Management rules around supplemental financial assurance. That’s the extra security operators might need to post to guarantee the eventual cleanup of old wells and platforms. Interior figures the updated approach could shave about $484 million a year off industry costs, with the proposed rule itself projecting an overall reduction of some $6.2 billion in required financial commitments.
The impact isn’t limited to W&T. Talos Energy has upstream assets in the U.S. Gulf, and Murphy Oil holds offshore acreage there as well as in other regions. Still, according to Krohn, most of the pressure from the previous rule was likely to fall on smaller players. Back in December, he told Reuters the agency lacked “no real basis” for demanding significantly higher bonding. Reuters
Monday’s numbers remain unaudited and could shift before W&T files its annual report by March 16. The company cautioned these figures are preliminary and subject to material revision. W&T’s proved reserves dropped to 121 million barrels of oil equivalent, down from 127 million at the end of 2024.
W&T will go over its full-year numbers on March 17. The company runs offshore fields near Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama.
