Chevron Sees 1Q Earnings Drop
US major Chevron said it had net income of $2.65bn in 1Q 2019, a decline of 27% from $3.64bn in 1Q 2018 which it attributed to lower crude oil prices, foreign exchange losses and weaker downstream results.
“Upstream production volumes were up 7% from a year ago, primarily in the Permian Basin and at Wheatstone in Australia,” CEO Michael Wirth said. “The company’s net oil-equivalent production exceeded 3mn b/d for the second quarter in a row.”
In the US, Chevron’s average realised sales price for natural gas fell to $1.64/’000ft3 from $2.20/’000ft3, while its realised sales price on international natural gas output rose to $6.57/’000ft3 from $5.85/’000ft3 in 1Q 2018.
In the US, net-oil equivalent production rose 20%, as the liquids component of oil-equivalent production increased 22% year-over-year. Net US natural gas production increased 17%, to 1.16bn ft3/day on the strength of increased associated gas production in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico.
Worldwide net-equivalent production increased to 3.04mn b/d from 2.85mn b/d in 1Q 2018, Chevron said, led by a 6% increase in global net natural gas production, to 6.98bn ft3/day from 6.59bn ft3/day. Global natural gas sales jumped to 10.1bn ft3/day from 8.88bn ft3/day in 1Q 2018.