Chevron Profit Declines on Lower Production -- Update

By Michael Calia 

Chevron Corp. said its first-quarter profit fell 27% as revenue slipped amid lower oil prices and production.

The results fell short of expectations.

"Our first quarter earnings were down from a year ago, primarily due to lower prices and volumes for crude oil," Chairman and Chief Executive John Watson said.

The company said its global oil-equivalent production for the period fell to 2.59 million barrels a day from the year-earlier tally of 2.65 million, as normal field declines and unplanned downtime related to poor weather--mainly in Kazakhstan--more than offset production increases in Nigeria, Angolia and the U.S.

Chevron--the second-biggest U.S. oil company in market value behind Exxon Mobil Corp.--had warned last month that production would drop year-over-year as severe weather led to downtime in the U.S., Canada and Kazakhstan, among other regions.

The company also said in April that U.S. oil prices fell 3.2% during the quarter, compared to a year earlier, to $91 a barrel. International prices fell 2.9% to $99 a barrel.

Chevron reported earnings of $4.51 billion, or $2.36 a share, down from $6.18 billion, or $3.18 a share, in the year-earlier period.

Revenue fell 6.3% to $53.27 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected per-share earnings of $2.51 and revenue of $57 billion.

Earnings from exploration and production, or upstream, fell 27% to $4.31 billion, as the company experienced declines in the U.S. and abroad.

Refining, marketing and chemical operations, or downstream, rose 1.3% to $710 million, as U.S. gains offset a decline in international operations.

Chevron earlier this week said it boosted its quarterly dividend by 7% to $1.07 a share.

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