Chevron Announces Third Quarter Net Income of $5.0 Bln

Chevron Corporation reported earnings of $5.0 billion ($2.57 per share – diluted) for the third quarter 2013, compared with $5.3 billion ($2.69 per share – diluted) in the 2012 third quarter.

Sales and other operating revenues in the third quarter 2013 were $57 billion, compared to $56 billion in the year-ago period.

“Our third quarter earnings were down from a year ago,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson, “primarily reflecting lower margins for refined products in the current period.”

“We continue to make good progress on our major capital projects,” Watson added. “Construction continues, and important milestones are being reached, on our Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia. Important interim construction goals have been recently reached for our Jack/St. Malo and Big Foot deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico, in preparation for their project start-ups scheduled for late 2014. We are also moving forward on the development of our liquids-rich unconventional properties in the United States.”

Recent upstream highlights include:

• Australia – Signed binding long-term Sales and Purchase Agreements with Tohoku Electric Power Company, Inc. for Wheatstone LNG. Binding long-term agreements now cover 85 percent of Chevron’s equity LNG offtake from Wheatstone.

• Australia – Acquired exploration interests in two blocks located in the deepwater Bight Basin offshore South Australia.

• Canada – Successfully concluded the initial twelve-well exploration drilling program in the liquids-rich portion of the Duvernay Shale.

“In the downstream business, we continued to advance our growth investments,” said Watson. Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, the company’s 50 percent-owned affiliate, announced a final investment decision on its U.S. Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project. This project will include an ethane cracker with an annual design capacity of 1.5 million metric tons per year and two polyethylene facilities, each with an annual design capacity of 500,000 metric tons per year.

The company purchased $1.25 billion of its common stock in the third quarter 2013 under its share repurchase program.

UPSTREAM

Worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 2.59 million barrels per day in the third quarter 2013, up from 2.52 million barrels per day in the 2012 third quarter. The increase was primarily driven by lower maintenance-related downtime at Tengizchevroil and project ramp-ups in the United States, Nigeria and Angola, partially offset by normal field declines.

U.S. upstream earnings of $1.03 billion in the third quarter 2013 were down $96 million from a year earlier, as higher crude oil and natural gas realizations and increased production were more than offset by higher depreciation, exploration and operating expenses.

The company’s average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids was $97 in the third quarter 2013, up from $91 a year ago. The average sales price of natural gas was $3.23 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $2.63 in last year’s third quarter.

Net oil-equivalent production of 655,000 barrels per day in the third quarter 2013 was up 18,000 barrels per day, or 3 percent, from a year earlier. Production increases in the Delaware Basin in New Mexico and the Marcellus Shale in western Pennsylvania, along with the absence of weather-related downtime in the Gulf of Mexico, were partially offset by normal field declines elsewhere. The net liquids component of oil-equivalent production increased 2 percent in the 2013 third quarter to 448,000 barrels per day, while net natural gas production increased 5 percent to 1.24 billion cubic feet per day.

International upstream earnings of $4.07 billion increased $49 million from the third quarter 2012. The increase between quarters was primarily due to higher volumes and realizations for crude oil, largely offset by the absence of a 2012 gain of approximately $600 million from the sale of an equity interest in the Wheatstone Project, and higher operating expenses in the current period. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings by $188 million in the 2013 quarter, compared with a decrease of $252 million a year earlier.

The average sales price for crude oil and natural gas liquids in the third quarter 2013 was $104 per barrel, up from $98 a year earlier. The average price of natural gas was $5.88 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $6.03 in last year’s third quarter.

Net oil-equivalent production of 1.93 million barrels per day in the third quarter 2013 was up 51,000 barrels per day, or 3 percent, from a year ago. Production increased primarily due to lower maintenance-related downtime at Tengizchevroil and project ramp-ups in Nigeria and Angola, partially offset by normal field declines. The net liquids component of oil-equivalent production increased 2 percent to 1.28 million barrels per day, while net natural gas production increased 3 percent to 3.91 billion cubic feet per day.

Press Release, November 01, 2013