Global oil-equivalent production fell from 2.65 million barrels a day in the 2013 first quarter to 2.59 million barrels a day due to normal field declines and unplanned downtime, particularly in Kazakhstan. U.S. profits fell from $1.13 billion a year ago to $912 million due to lower production and higher costs. The company’s average U.S. selling price per barrel dropped by $3.00 to $91, while the average cost of natural gas rose from $3.11 per thousand cubic feet a year ago to $4.77 in the quarter.
U.S. refining profits rose from $135 million a year ago to $422 million in the first quarter due to higher margins and a gain on the sale of a stake in a pipeline affiliate. Internationally, refining profits fell from $566 million to $288 million, which Chevron attributed to lower margins. Foreign currency translation effects lowered earnings by $28 million, compared with a boost of $76 million in the year ago quarter.
The company’s CEO said:
Our first quarter earnings were down from a year ago primarily due to lower prices and volumes for crude oil. … We continue to advance our key development projects and we are anticipating production growth in 2015 and beyond as a result of these investments. Significant progress has been made on the construction of our Gorgon and Wheatstone projects in Australia. Our Jack/St. Malo and Big Foot projects in the Gulf of Mexico are also progressing, with first production planned for late 2014 and
mid-2015, respectively.
Chevron raised its quarterly dividend by $0.07 a share earlier this week to $1.07, and repurchased $1.25 billion in common stock during the first quarter.
Capital spending rose from $8.9 billion in the first quarter of last year to $9.4 billion this year. Full-year capex is expected to be about flat with last year at around $38 billion.
The earnings announcement did not include guidance, but the consensus estimate for the second quarter calls for EPS of $2.76 on revenues of $57.56 billion. For the full year, EPS and revenues are estimated at $10.88 and $228.32 billion, respectively.
Chevron shares were down about 1.5% in premarket trading, at $123.07 in a 52-week range of $109.27 to $127.83. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $129.50 before the report.
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