When energy super-major BP plc (NYSE: BP) reported second-quarter results very early Tuesday morning, the headline number is the $6.3 billion loss attributed to low crude oil prices and a $10.8 billion pre-tax charge to settle all federal claims and additional claims from five Gulf Coast states related to the Macondo well explosion in April 2010 that killed 11 workers and dumped millions of barrels of crude into the sea.

What BP calls replacement cost profit or loss is essentially net income and that tanked year-over-year in the second quarter. A year ago the company posted $4.66 billion in pre-tax profit in its upstream exploration and production business, which tumbled to just $494 million this year.

In the second quarter the Brent crude price averaged $62 a barrel, compared with $54 a barrel in the first quarter and $110 a barrel in 2Q 2014. In the third quarter to date, the price has averaged $58 a barrel according to BP.

Ignoring the $9.8 billion charge, but including other items, BP posted adjusted net income of $1.3 billion, half the total from the prior quarter, and down from $3.6 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Perhaps more important that any of these numbers is BP CEO Bob Dudley’s comment:

The external environment remains challenging, but BP moved quickly in response and we continue to do so. Our work to increase efficiency and reduce costs is embedding sustainable benefits throughout the Group and we continue with capital discipline and divestments. …  I am confident that positioning BP for a period of weaker prices is the right course to take, and will serve the company well for the future.

Dudley did not say how long the weak pricing regime would last, but it seems pretty clear that BP does not believe that higher prices are due anytime soon. And by “soon” we mean through next year, although we don’t know what BP’s outlook timetable is.

Do BP’s earnings have an influence on other major oil companies scheduled to report earnings this week? Producer Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) and refiner Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) are scheduled to report on Thursday and both Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) are set to report results on Friday.

Analysts expect Occidental to report earnings per share (EPS) of $0.22 on revenues of $3.65 billion. In the second quarter of 2014 the company reported EPS of $1.79 on revenues of $6.28 billion. Oxy’s capital spending budget last year totaled $2.66 billion and the company has projected 2015 capex at $1.47 billion. The price of WTI crude is down about 15.4% year-to-date and Oxy’s stock is down about 14.5% in the same period. The forward price/earnings ratio is 27.57 and the price-to-book ratio is 1.52. With a consensus price target of $84.78, the implied potential gain on the stock at Monday’s closing price of $67.76 is about 25%.

Refiner Valero is expected to post EPS of $2.39 on revenues of $19.91 billion. In the same quarter last year Valero’s EPS totaled $1.22 and revenues came in at $34.91 billion. The low price of crude is the big contributor to the extraordinary margins reflected in the comparisons of profits and revenues. In fact, estimates for Valero’s EPS have jumped by more than half a dollar in the past month and are up $0.21 in the past two weeks. The company’s forward P/E ratio is 10.14 and the price-to-book ratio is 1.58. At last night’s closing price of $64.38 and a consensus price target of $75.36, the potential gain is about 17%.

On Friday, Exxon is expected to post earnings per share of $1.09 on revenues of $72.48 billion compared with per share earnings of $2.05 and revenues of $111.65 billion in the second quarter of 2015. The EPS estimate has risen by 3 cents since last Friday. Since the beginning of the year, Exxon’s share price has dropped 11.6% compared with a 15.4% drop in the price of crude. Refining margins boosted Exxon’s earnings last quarter by $1 billion. With a consensus price target of $92.35 and last night’s closing price of $79.26, the potential gain on the stock is about 16.5%.

Chevron also reports earnings on Friday and analysts are looking for EPS of $1.12 on revenues of $30.91 billion compared with per share earnings of $2.98 and revenues of $57.94 billion in the year-ago quarter. The consensus EPS estimate has risen 4 cents since Friday. Of the three producers we’ve looked at here, only Chevron’s stock price decline since the beginning of the year is greater than the drop in the price of crude. Compared with a 15.4% drop in crude, Chevron stock is down 18.3%. Analysts have put a consensus price target of $109.89 on the stock, and shares closed at $89.14 on Monday night. The potential upside on the share price is about 23%.

Given BP’s operating performance, shares of Oxy, Exxon, and Chevron should get a lift today going into earnings later this week. But there’s no reason for exuberance. WTI crude for September delivery traded above $48.40 earlier this morning after closing at $47.39 last night. The price of a barrel has dropped back to around $48 at the noon hour. Where $50 a barrel was a floor for much of the second quarter, after the last two week it is beginning to look like a ceiling.

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