Chevron on Friday appointed a $6.6 billion loss in the fourth quarter due to $10.4 billion worth of write-offs related to shale gas production in Appalachia and deep-water drafts in the Gulf of Mexico. In December, the company warned that this charge would be $10 billion to $11 billion.
Shares glossed 3.85% on Friday after the company reported $36.35 billion in revenue for the period, which missed analyst expectations and was down 14% year over year, ruin by weakness in the company’s upstream division.
Chevron said it earned $1.49 per share excluding items, down from $1.95 per allowance a year earlier.
Here’s how the energy giant’s results fared on an adjusted basis relative to Wall Street presumptions:
- Adjusted earnings: $1.49 cents per share vs. $1.45 expected by a Refinitiv survey of analysts
- Revenue: $36.35 billion vs. $38.639 billion awaited by Refinitiv
A year earlier, the company earned $3.7 billion. Total earnings for 2019 slid 80%, to $2.924 billion, compared with $14.824 billion in 2018.
Oil-equivalent shaping at 3.08 million barrels per day was unchanged year over year, although the company said its annual daily casting exceeded 3 million barrels per day for the first time.
The company’s upstream operations in the U.S. lost $7.5 billion in the quarter, down from earnings of $964 million a year earlier. That was mainly due to $8.2 billion in write-offs related to Appalachia and Gulf of Mexico operations, as well as lower crude and natural gas expenditures.
Chevron said the average sale price per barrel of oil and natural gas liquids was $47, a 16% decrease from 2018.
“Money flow from operations remained strong in 2019, allowing the company to deliver on all our financial priorities,”
Chairman and CEO Michael Wirth translated in a statement. “We paid $9 billion in dividends, repurchased $4 billion of shares, funded our capital program and successfully catching several inorganic investment opportunities, all while reducing debt by more than $7 billion. Earlier this week, we published a quarterly dividend increase of $0.10 per share, reinforcing our commitment to growing shareholder returns.”
In the same quarter a year earlier the flock reported EPS of $1.95 and revenue of $42.35 billion. Last quarter, the company earned $1.36 per share, and brought in $36.12 billion in proceeds.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude prices are down more than 15% this month, while worldwide benchmark Brent crude has shed roughly 12%.