Chevron has reported earnings of US$5.41 billion for the second quarter of 2010, compared with $1.75 billion in Q2 2009. The company said foreign currency effects increased earnings in the 2010 quarter by $241 million, compared with a reduction of $453 million a year earlier.
For the first half of 2010, earnings were $9.96 billion, up from $3.58 billion in the first six months of 2009. Sales and other operating revenues in the second quarter 2010 were $51 billion, up from $40 billion in the year-ago period due mainly to higher prices for crude oil, natural gas and refined products.
“We had another very successful quarter – both operationally and financially,” said chairman and CEO John Watson. “Current quarter earnings from upstream operations benefited significantly from higher prices for crude oil and natural gas and higher net oil-equivalent production. In the downstream, improved margins for refined petroleum products contributed to increased earnings.”
Watson added: “During the second quarter, we continued to make significant progress toward building a leading natural gas business to supply Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. We also progressed several new upstream opportunities in other areas.”
International upstream
International upstream earnings of $3.45 billion increased $2.08 billion from the second quarter 2009 due mainly to the impact of higher prices and sales volumes for crude oil. Foreign currency effects increased earnings by $107 million in the 2010 quarter, compared with a decrease of $467 million a year earlier.
The average sales price for crude oil and natural gas liquids in the second 2010 quarter was $71 per barrel, compared with $53 a year earlier. The average price of natural gas was $4.40 per thousand cubic feet, up from $3.73 in last year’s second quarter.
Net oil-equivalent production of 2.04 million bpd in the second quarter 2010 was up 3%, or 68,000 bpd, from a year ago. The increase included approximately 72,000 bpd associated with ramp-up of two projects – the expansion at Tengiz in Kazakhstan and Frade in Brazil. The impact of higher prices on cost-recovery volumes and other contractual provisions decreased net production from last year’s second quarter. The net liquids component of production increased 4% from a year ago to 1.42 million bpd and net natural gas production was up 3% to 3.70 billion cubic feet per day.
International downstream
International downstream operations earned $542 million in the second quarter 2010, compared with earnings of $182 million a year earlier. The increase was due mainly to a favorable change in effects on derivative instruments. Foreign currency effects increased earnings by $131 million in the 2010 quarter, compared with a reduction of $28 million a year earlier.
Refinery crude-input of 954,000bpd decreased 16,000bpd from the second quarter of 2009, mainly due to planned and unplanned downtime. Total refined product sales of 1.78 million bpd in the 2010 second quarter were 3% lower than a year earlier, due mainly to lower sales of gas oil and fuel oil. Excluding the impact of 2009 asset sales, sales volumes were down 2 percent between periods.
