2015-08-02 18:10:00
CHEVRON DOWN 90%
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported earnings of $571 million ($0.30 per share – diluted) for second quarter 2015, compared with earnings of $5.7 billion ($2.98 per share – diluted) in the 2014 second quarter. Included in the quarter were impairments of $1.96 billion and other charges of approximately $670 million relating to project suspensions and adverse tax effects, all of which were non-cash charges stemming from a downward revision in the company's longer-term crude oil price outlook. Partially offsetting were gains on asset sales totaling $1.80 billion in the current quarter. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings in the 2015 quarter by $251 million, compared with a decrease of $232 million a year earlier.
Sales and other operating revenues in second quarter 2015 were $37 billion, compared to $56 billion in the year-ago period.
"Second quarter financial results were weak, reflecting a crude price decline of nearly 50 percent from a year ago. Our Upstream businesses were particularly hard hit, as lower prices reduced revenues and triggered impairments and other charges. Downstream operations continued to deliver strong financial performance, reflecting both high reliability and improved margins," said Chairman and CEO John Watson.
"Multiple efforts to improve future earnings and cash flows are underway," Watson continued. "We're getting our cost structure down, through renegotiations across the supply chain and by sizing our contractor and employee workforce to reflect lower activity levels going forward. We're actively managing to a smaller capital program, as projects currently under construction come online and as potential new projects are paced and re-bid. In addition, our 4-year divestment program is ahead of pace."
"Project execution on our Gorgon and Wheatstone Australian LNG projects is a priority for us," Watson commented. "Incremental production and cash generation from these projects and others, along with a curtailed capital program, should provide support for continuing competitive shareholder distributions."
Recent company milestones include:
- Australia – Completed the sale of the company's 50 percent interest in Caltex Australia Limited.
- Australia – Progressed commissioning activities at the Gorgon Project. Commissioning of the Jansz-Io Field subsea infrastructure is ongoing. All Train 2 modules are installed on foundations, with Train 3 modules being delivered to site.
- Australia – Continued construction of the Wheatstone Project, which is now over 65 percent complete. Eleven of 24 Train 1 process modules required for first LNG have been delivered to site. All gas turbine generators are installed on foundations. Subsea infrastructure is being installed, with all three production manifolds now in place.
- New Zealand – Completed the sale of the company's interest in The New Zealand Refining Company Limited and reached agreement to sell the company's marketing interests in New Zealand.
- United States – Achieved start-up of sixth production well at Jack/St. Malo in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Ramp-up of total oil-equivalent production to approximately 80,000 barrels per day continues to exceed expectations.
- United States – On track to drill 325 gross wells in 2015, including multiple horizontal well development programs, in the Midland and Delaware Basins in Texas and New Mexico.
UPSTREAM
Worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 2.60 million barrels per day in second quarter 2015, up from 2.55 million barrels per day in the 2014 second quarter. This production increase of 2 percent came from project ramp-ups in the United States, Bangladesh and Argentina, production entitlement effects in several locations, and lower maintenance-related downtime, primarily reflecting the absence of a major turnaround at Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan. Normal field declines, the Partitioned Zone shut-in, and the effect of asset sales partially offset these effects.
U.S. upstream operations incurred a loss of $1.04 billion in second quarter 2015 compared to earnings of $1.05 billion from a year earlier. The decrease was due to sharply lower crude oil realizations and higher depreciation expenses, primarily reflecting impairments, partially offset by higher crude oil production and lower operating expenses.
The company's average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids was $50 in second quarter 2015, down from $92 a year ago. The average sales price of natural gas was $1.92 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $4.09 in last year's second quarter.
Net oil-equivalent production of 730,000 barrels per day in second quarter 2015 was up 63,000 barrels per day, or 9 percent, from a year earlier. Production increases due to project ramp-ups in the Gulf of Mexico, the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, and the Marcellus Shale in western Pennsylvania were only partially offset by normal field declines. The net liquids component of oilequivalent production increased 11 percent in the 2015 second quarter to 511,000 barrels per day, while net natural gas production increased 5 percent to 1.31 billion cubic feet per day.
International upstream operations incurred a loss of $1.18 billion in second quarter 2015 compared to earnings of $4.21 billion from a year earlier. The decrease was due to sharply lower crude oil realizations, higher depreciation expenses, primarily reflecting impairments, higher income tax items and higher exploration expenses. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings by $146 million in the 2015 quarter, compared with a decrease of $147 million a year earlier.
The average sales price for crude oil and natural gas liquids in second quarter 2015 was $56 per barrel, down from $101 a year earlier. The average price of natural gas was $4.48 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $5.98 in last year's second quarter.
Net oil-equivalent production of 1.87 million barrels per day in second quarter 2015 decreased 12,000 barrels per day, or less than 1 percent, from a year ago. Production increases from entitlement effects in several locations, lower maintenance-related downtime, primarily reflecting the absence of a major turnaround at Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan, and project ramp-ups in Bangladesh and Argentina were more than offset by the Partitioned Zone shut-in, normal field declines, and the effect of asset sales.
The net liquids component of oil-equivalent production decreased 2 percent to 1.21 million barrels per day in the 2015 second quarter, while net natural gas production increased 2 percent to 3.93 billion cubic feet per day.
U.S. downstream operations earned $731 million in second quarter 2015 compared with earnings of $517 million a year earlier. The increase was due to higher margins on refined product sales, partially offset by the absence of a 2014 asset sale gain and lower earnings from the 50 percent-owned Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC.
Refinery crude oil input of 916,000 barrels per day in second quarter 2015 increased 155,000 barrels per day from the year-ago period. The increase was primarily due to the absence of the second quarter 2014 major crude unit turnaround at the El Segundo, California refinery.
Refined product sales of 1.23 million barrels per day were up 3 percent from second quarter 2014, primarily reflecting higher gasoline sales. Branded gasoline sales of 535,000 barrels per day were up 2 percent from the 2014 period.
International downstream operations earned $2.23 billion in second quarter 2015 compared with $204 million a year earlier. The increase was primarily due to a $1.6 billion gain from the sale of the company's interest in Caltex Australia Limited. Higher margins on refined product sales also contributed to the increase. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings by $103 million in the 2015 quarter, compared with a decrease of $84 million a year earlier.
Refinery crude oil input of 774,000 barrels per day in second quarter 2015 decreased 70,000 barrels per day from the year-ago period as a result of the Caltex Australia Limited divestment.
Total refined product sales of 1.48 million barrels per day in the 2015 second quarter were down 69,000 barrels per day from the year-ago period, due to lower gasoline and gas oil sales resulting from the Caltex Australia Limited divestment.
All Other consists of worldwide cash management and debt financing activities, corporate administrative functions, insurance operations, real estate activities and technology companies.
Net charges in second quarter 2015 were $166 million, compared with $320 million in the yearago period. The change between periods was mainly due to lower corporate tax items and lower corporate charges, partially offset by the effects of charges related to reductions in corporate staffs and higher environmental expenses.
CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS
Cash flow from operations in the first six months of 2015 was $9.5 billion, compared with $16.3 billion in the corresponding 2014 period. Excluding working capital effects, cash flow from operations in 2015 was $11.6 billion, compared with $17.0 billion in 2014.
CAPITAL AND EXPLORATORY EXPENDITURES
Capital and exploratory expenditures in the first six months of 2015 were $17.3 billion, compared with $19.6 billion in the corresponding 2014 period. The amounts included $1.5 billion in 2015 and $1.5 billion in 2014 for the company's share of expenditures by affiliates, which did not require cash outlays by the company. Expenditures for upstream represented 93 percent of the companywide total in the first six months of 2015.
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