Chevron reports huge $6.2bn in 1Q 2011 earnings

“Our first quarter financial performance was strong,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “Current quarter earnings from upstream operations benefited from higher prices for crude oil, while downstream operations benefited from improved margins on refined petroleum products. We continue to operate safely, advance our major capital projects and restructure our downstream portfolio.”

Watson continued, “We are aggressively investing in affordable supplies of new energy to meet the needs of a growing economy. Our combined capital outlays and investments during the quarter amounted to over $8 billion.” The company completed the acquisition of Atlas Energy, Inc., which provides a premier position in the Marcellus Shale in southwestern Pennsylvania, and strengthens the company’s global position in developing unconventional gas resources. The company continues to advance its major capital projects, including deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico and multiple LNG projects in Angola and Australia. The Gorgon Project in Australia continues on pace, and the company finalized agreements to bring another major participant into the Australian Wheatstone Project as both a natural gas supplier and equity participant.

Watson continued, “We recently received our first deepwater exploratory drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico following the moratorium, and have resumed work on our Moccasin well that was suspended in June of last year. The resumption of deepwater drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico is vital to improving our nation’s energy security and supporting the economic recovery. We are working with the government to improve the efficiency and transparency of the permitting process.”
“In the downstream business, we made further progress on streamlining our asset portfolio,” Watson added. The company announced an agreement to sell its 220,000-barrels-per-day Pembroke Refinery and other downstream assets in the United Kingdom and Ireland for $730 million, plus additional proceeds estimated at $1 billion for the company’s inventory and other working capital. The transaction is expected to close in the second-half 2011. The company also announced an agreement to sell its fuels, finished lubricants and aviation fuels businesses in Spain, and completed the sale of its fuels-marketing and aviation businesses in nine eastern Caribbean countries as well as its fuels-marketing businesses in two African countries.

Also in the first quarter, the company announced the final investment decision on a $1.4 billion project to construct a lubricants base oil manufacturing facility at the Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery. The facility is designed to manufacture 25,000 barrels per day of premium base oil. Project completion is expected by year-end 2013.

The company purchased $750 million of its common stock in the first quarter 2011.

Worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 2.76 million barrels per day in the first quarter 2011, down from 2.78 million barrels per day in the 2010 first quarter. Production increases in Brazil, Nigeria, Thailand and Canada were more than offset by normal field declines, a one percent negative volume effect of higher prices on cost-recovery volumes and other contractual provisions as well as decreases due to weather- and maintenance-related downtime.

U.S. upstream earnings of $1.45 billion in the first quarter 2011 were up $293 million from a year earlier. The benefit of higher crude oil realizations was partly offset by decreased net oil-equivalent production and lower natural gas realizations.
The company’s average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids was approximately $89 in the 2011 quarter, compared with $71 a year ago. The average sales price of natural gas was $4.04 per thousand cubic feet, down from $5.29 in last year’s first quarter.

Net oil-equivalent production of 694,000 barrels per day in the first quarter 2011 was down 40,000 barrels per day, or about 5 percent, from a year earlier. The decrease in production was associated with normal field declines and weather- and maintenance-related downtime. Partially offsetting this decrease was new production at both Perdido in the Gulf of Mexico and from the acquisition of Atlas Energy, Inc. The net liquids component of oil-equivalent production decreased approximately 5 percent in the 2011 first quarter to 482,000 barrels per day, while net natural gas production declined about 8 percent to 1.27 billion cubic feet per day.

International upstream earnings of $4.53 billion increased $960 million from the first quarter 2010. Higher prices and sales volumes for crude oil increased earnings between quarters. This benefit was partly offset by higher operating expenses, including fuel, and tax items. Depreciation expenses were also higher between periods. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings by $116 million in the 2011 quarter, compared with a decrease of $102 million a year earlier.

The average sales price for crude oil and natural gas liquids in the 2011 quarter was $95 per barrel, compared with $70 a year earlier. The average price of natural gas was $5.03 per thousand cubic feet, up from $4.61 in last year’s first quarter.
Net oil-equivalent production of 2.07 million barrels per day in the first quarter 2011 was up approximately 17,000 barrels per day from a year ago.

The increase included 73,000 barrels per day associated with higher production in Brazil, Nigeria, Thailand and Canada. Partially offsetting this increase were a negative effect of higher prices on cost-recovery volumes and other contractual provisions as well as decreases due to weather- and maintenance-related downtime and normal field declines. The net liquids component of oil-equivalent production remained flat at 1.43 million barrels per day, while net natural gas production was up about 3 percent to 3.83 billion cubic feet per day.