Chevron Posts First Annual Loss Since 2016

By Dave Sebastian

Chevron Corp. swung to a loss of $5.5 billion in 2020, capping a year that saw a rout in oil prices and a pandemic-induced travel downturn that sapped demand for oil and gas.

That was the first time Chevron ended the year in red since it posted a $497 million annual loss for 2016. In 2019, the San Ramon, Calif.-based oil company had a net profit of $2.9 billion.

Chevron on Friday posted a fourth-quarter loss of $665 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with a loss of $6.61 billion, or $3.51 a share, in the comparable quarter a year earlier. The company booked $16.43 billion in depreciation, depletion and amortization costs in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Adjusted losses for the quarter were a penny a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting adjusted earnings of 8 cents a share.

Quarterly revenue fell more than 30% to $25.25 billion from the year-ago period. Analysts were looking for $25.82 billion.

Upstream earnings were $501 million, compared with a loss of $6.73 billion in the same period last year. World-wide oil-equivalent production rose 6% to 3.28 million barrels a day during the quarter due to its acquisition of Noble Energy, Chevron said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2021 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT)

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