MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil giant Chevron Corp. reported a 37 percent decline in profit for the third quarter from last year, reflecting lower oil prices and weak refining margins, said Rttnews.
However, both revenue and earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' estimates. In addition, the company raised its quarterly dividend. Chevron's net income for the third quarter was USD1.28 billion or USD0.68 per share, down from USD2.04 billion or USD1.09 per share in the prior-year quarter.
On average, 22 analysts expected the company to report earnings of USD0.37 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Total revenues and other income for the quarter declined 12 percent to USD30.14 billion from USD34.32 billion in the same quarter last year, but topped analysts' consensus estimate of USD29.05 billion.
Sales and other operating revenues decreased 11 percent to USD29.16 billion from USD32.77 billion in the prior-year quarter. Chevron's worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 2.51 million barrels per day in the quarter, down slightly from 2.54 million barrels per day in the year-ago period.
The company noted that production increases from major capital projects, shale and tight properties, and base business were more than offset by normal field declines, the effect of asset sales, and maintenance-related downtime.
Chevron's upstream segment's earnings rose to USD454 million from USD59 million in the year-ago period on higher natural gas sales and lower expenses, partly offset by lower crude oil and natural gas realizations. Meanwhile, downstream earnings fell 52 percent from the year-ago period to USD1.07 billion, reflecting lower margins on refined product sales, lower earnings from the 50 percent-owned Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, and the absence of year-ago gains on derivative instruments.
Chevron's board of directors has approved a USD0.01 per share increase in the quarterly dividend to USD1.08 per share, payable in December 2016. With this increase, the company has raised the annual dividend payout on its common shares for the 29th consecutive year.
As MRC informed earlier, in July 2016, USD36.8bn expansion of the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, the largest investment by private sector oil companies this decade, has been given the go-ahead by Chevron of the US, bucking the trend of delays and cancellations resulting from the slump in crude prices since mid-2014.
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. One of the successor companies of Standard Oil, it is headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries. Chevron is engaged in every aspect of the oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy industries, including hydrocarbon exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation.
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