Occidental Petroleum's Profit Beats As Prices For Chemicals Jump
Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. oil producer Occidental Petroleum Corp posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped in part by a price hike at its chemical division.
The company posted net income of $507 million, or 66 cents per share in the second quarter, compared to a net loss of $139 million, or 18 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding one-time items, the company earned 15 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected earnings of 10 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Shares of Oxy fell 0.1 percent to $61.30 in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
Oxy's oil and gas division swung to a profit during the quarter, and its chemical division saw earnings nearly triple on higher prices for caustic soda and vinyl.
Houston-based Oxy did not cut its capital budget for the year, a different tack than many of its peers in the past week.
Oxy had said in June it would not cut its capital budget for the year, with Chief Executive Vicki Hollub saying the company likely would be cash-flow neutral, that is, cover its capital budget and shareholder dividends from cash flow, at $50 a barrel for the year.
"I am confident in our organization's ability to continue to exceed expectations toward our cash-flow break-even goal at low oil prices," Hollub said in a Wednesday press release.
Production fell 8 percent to 601,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, though output jumped in the company's shale operations in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. oilfield.
Oxy paid $600 million to Hess Corp in June for its stake in enhanced oil recovery projects in the Permian Basin. The deal cemented Oxy's status as the dominant producer of oil via carbon injection, a process favored by environmentalists and oil producers alike.
Production from Oxy's EOR assets rose about 1 percent during the quarter to 146,000 barrels of oil per day.
Oxy plans to hold a conference call with investors to discuss the quarterly results on Thursday morning.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by James Dalgleish)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Oil Demand Outpaces Expectations, Testing Calculus on Peak Crude
- House Passes Protecting American Energy Production Act
- TotalEnergies Restarts Production in Denmark's Biggest Gas Field
- USA Oil and Gas Job Figures Jump
- Republican Lawmakers Say IEA Has Abandoned Energy Security Mission
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of Retaliation If It Backs USA Attacks
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Summer Pump Prices Set to Hit $4 a Gallon Just as Americans Hit the Road
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension