Latest News

Occidental reports quarterly profit beat on strong output, natural gas prices

Occidental Petroleum beat Wall Street expectations for the first-quarter profits on Wednesday thanks to strong production and favorable commodities prices.

Benchmark Brent crude averaged $74.98 per barrel in the first quarter of 2018, up 1.3% from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, U.S. Natural Gas prices have been steadily rising over the last few quarters, and reached a 2-year high on 10 March.

The average domestic realized price of total natural gas production has risen to $2.42 for every thousand cubic feet. This is a 50% increase from last year. Natural gas liquids (NGLs) realized by the company were $25.94 a barrel, a roughly 17% increase from last year.

The average realized price of oil has fallen from last year but increased by 2% from the previous quarter.

The company's production increased by nearly 19%, to 1,39 million barrels of equivalent oil per day (MMboepd), compared with the previous year. This was largely due to higher output from the Rockies as well as the Gulf of America.

In the third quarter, the company reported that it had paid off $2.3 billion in debt. This was a result of divestitures. After closing its acquisition of CrownRock, the company's debt ballooned.

In a press release, CEO Vicki Hollub stated that "we continue to make rapid progress towards our debt-reduction goals and believe that our deep, varied portfolio of high quality assets positions us for successful performance in any market conditions."

According to LSEG, the company reported a profit adjusted of 87 cents a piece for the quarter ending March 31. This compares with an average analyst estimate of 77c / share.

(source: Reuters)