Oil majors are reckoning with the new and possibly permanent reality of low demand, multiple outlets reported last week. a  In releasing Q1 earnings reports on Friday, Royal Dutch Shell said it cut its dividend for the first time since World War II, Exxon Mobil reported its first loss in decades, and Chevron warned its earnings will remain “depressed” as long as the historic demand reduction caused by the coronavirus pandemic persists. Oil companies are scrambling to conserve cash in what industry experts say has turned into an existential crisis for many producers as the second quarter of 2020 is expected to be even worse than the first. Politico reports the American Petroleum Institute is also worried the Trump administration will exacerbate oversupply-driven low prices by propping up small, debt-ridden producers that would be unable to obtain financing from private sources. “Nobody wants to give us capital because we have all destroyed capital and created economic waste,” Pioneer Natural Resources Chief Executive Scott Sheffield told a meeting of the Texas Railroad Commission in mid-April. (PoliticoPro, Earther. Shell: WSJ, Exxon: CNBC. Chevron: CNBC)