Chevron Reports 1Q Net Income of USD 6.2 Billion (USA)

Chevron Corporation today reported earnings of $6.2 billion ($3.09 per share – diluted) for the first quarter 2011, compared with $4.6 billion ($2.27 per share – diluted) in the 2010 first quarter.

Sales and other operating revenues in the first quarter 2011 were $58 billion, up from $47 billion in the year-ago period, mainly due to higher prices for crude oil and refined products.

“Our first quarter financial performance was strong,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson (image). “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.

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Source: Chevron, April 29, 2011;