Chevron tops estimates with Q1 profit gain despite slide in oil prices

OIL major Chevron beat market expectations on Friday (Apr 28) as profit nudged higher in the first quarter, with earnings from refining compensating for slides in energy prices as well as oil and gas production.

Net profit climbed 5 per cent to US$6.57 billion or US$3.46 per share. Results beat consensus by 4 per cent, according to Refinitiv data. The company’s standout business was refining, where higher margins helped income surge more than five-fold to US$1.8 billion.

Shares were down 0.5 per cent in pre-market trading.

Chevron’s oil and gas production division, on the other hand, saw its net profit tumble 25 per cent on big year-over-year declines in prices.

Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, traded at an average of US$82 per barrel during the first three months of the year, down 16 per cent from a year earlier and a drop of 7 per cent from the fourth quarter.

“Brent prices are high, yet down quite a bit. But you are still seeing mid-double-digit returns” for every US dollar spent by the company, chief financial officer Pierre Breber told Reuters.

The second-largest US oil firm ended the quarter with US$15.8 billion in cash, down 12 per cent from a year ago but some US$10 billion above what it needs run the business, Breber said.

Big oil companies are holding more cash in the event of an economic slowdown and to be ready if there is a new wave of consolidations.

“The intent over time is that cash will be returned to shareholders in a steady way,” Breber said, adding that Chevron will only pursue deals that benefit shareholders.

“We are always looking,” he said when asked if Chevron was discussing acquisitions. “And we have a very high bar because we don’t need to do a deal.”

Capital spending jumped 55 per cent from a year ago to US$3 billion, primarily driven by investments in US projects.

Chevron has been increasing production in the US while decreasing it elsewhere. Total output fell 3 per cent from a year ago to 2.98 million barrels of oil and gas per day on a contract expiration in Thailand and the sale of South Texas shale properties.

The decrease was partially offset by a 4 per cent production growth in the Permian, the largest shale basin in the US. The company is also starting up a new platform in the Gulf of Mexico. REUTERS