chevron corp released a second-quarter earnings update on Sunday that came in better than expected ahead of the oil major’s earnings call this week.
Adjusted earnings of $3.08 per share beat FactSet’s consensus of $2.97 per share. That’s about 47% down from last year’s second quarter and down from 2023’s first quarter earnings of $3.55 per share.
The main reason for Chevron’s earnings decline is that oil prices have fallen dramatically compared to this point last year, when they were skyrocketing due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We are delivering great value to shareholders regardless of the commodity price environment,” CEO Mike Wirth said in an interview with Barron’s. “We have prices that are lower than a year ago but higher than two and three years ago. We must be prepared for high and low prices.
“We have a company that is designed to last through all cycles,” he added. “At [oil prices] At less than $50, we cover all of our dividends and all of our capital expenditures.”
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Chevron’s independent directors expressed their confidence in Wirth, waiving the company’s statutory retirement age of 65 for him. He will turn 63 later this year.
The company also announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Pierre Breber, is retiring after 35 years with the company. Eimear Bonner, Chief Technology Officer, will succeed him from March 2024.
In a statement, Wirth Breber thanked him for his contributions and welcomed Bonner, a 24-year Chevron veteran (ticker: CVX), saying she could “build on Chevron’s strong foundation and continue to create value for shareholders.”
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Chevron announced that the Company had record quarterly production in the Permian Basin, a shale producing region of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Production there was 11% higher than in the second quarter of the previous year. The company produced 772,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and added that it was on track to meet its full-year guidance.
Quarterly shareholder distributions of $7.2 billion were also a record, Chevron said, including $4.4 billion in share buybacks and $2.8 billion in dividends.
Chevron expects to complete its acquisition of shale drilling company PDC Energy in August.
Write to Liz Moyer at [email protected]