logo-loader

Chevron Q2 profits lower on declining oil prices and production

Published: 11:16 27 Jul 2012 EDT

no_picture_pai

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Friday reported a lower second quarter profit as oil prices and production declined.

For the three months that ended June 30, the second-largest US oil company posted net income of $7.2 billion, or $3.66 per diluted share, compared with $7.7 billion or $3.85 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

Total revenues and other income fell to $60 billion, compared to $67 billion in the same period a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $3.24 for the quarter, on revenues of $68.56 billion.

“Our second quarter earnings and cash flow were among our strongest ever, even with softer oil markets,” said chairman and CEO John Watson.

“Despite current weakness in the global economy, we continue to invest in our long-term growth projects to help deliver affordable energy to meet future demand."

Chevron reported worldwide net oil-equivalent production of 2.62 million barrels per day in the second quarter, down from 2.69 million barrels per day in the year-ago second quarter.

In its upstream unit, the company’s average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids was $97 in the second quarter, down from $104 a year ago. The average sales price of natural gas was $2.17 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $4.35 in last year’s second quarter.

US upstream net oil-equivalent production of 659,000 barrels per day in the second quarter was down 35,000 barrels per day, or five per cent, from a year earlier. The decrease in production was associated with normal field declines and an absence of volumes associated with Cook Inlet, Alaska, assets sold in 2011.

Earnings from the unit were $1.32 billion in the second quarter, down $632 million from a year earlier, primarily due to lower crude oil and natural gas realizations, lower production and the absence of gains on asset sales.

Chevron’s international upstream earnings of $4.30 billion decreased $619 million from the second quarter 2011, due to lower realizations and volumes for crude oil, as well as higher exploration expense, partially offset by higher realizations for natural gas.

The company's US downstream operations reported that refinery crude oil input of 928,000 barrels per day in the second quarter 2012 increased 53,000 barrels per day from the year-ago period. Earnings from the unit totaled $802 million in the second quarter, compared with earnings of $564 million a year earlier.

Its international downstream operations posted refinery crude oil input of 870,000 barrels per day, down 147,000 barrels per day from second quarter 2011, primarily due to the third quarter 2011 sale of the Pembroke Refinery in the UK. The segment drew in $1.08 billion in the second quarter, compared with $480 million a year earlier.

The company purchased $1.25 billion of its common stock in the second quarter under its share repurchase program.

Chevron shares edged up 0.10 per cent as at 11:13 ET, trading at $108.38.

Ramp Metals Launches Drilling Program in Pursuit of High-Grade Nickel in...

Ramp Metals CEO Jordan Black joined Steve Darling from Proactive to introduce the company to the public domain and share exciting developments in the mining industry. With a background as a geotechnical engineer and experience in venture capital, including a notable role in taking GoldSpot...

31 minutes ago