USA: Chevron 3Q Earnings Drop

Chevron Corporation today 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.

CAPITAL AND EXPLORATORY EXPENDITURES

Capital and exploratory expenditures in the first nine months of 2013 were $28.9 billion, compared with $22.7 billion in the corresponding 2012 period. The amounts included $1.8 billion in 2013 and $1.4 billion in 2012 for the company’s share of expenditures by affiliates, which did not require cash outlays by the company. Capital expenditures increased between periods as work progressed on a number of major capital projects, particularly two Australian LNG projects and two deepwater Gulf of Mexico projects. In addition, the company acquired new resource opportunities in Australia, the Permian Basin and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, along with interests in the Kitimat LNG Project in Canada.

Expenditures for upstream represented 92 percent of the companywide total in the first nine months of 2013.

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LNG World News Staff, November 01, 2013; Image: Chevron