By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-United States oil producer, Chevron Corporation said on Friday its fourth quarter (Q4) declined 30 percent amidst sliding oil prices, a statement from the company said.
Chevron reported a Q4 earnings of $3.5 billion ($1.85 per share) compared with $4.9 billion ($2.57 per share) recorded in the same period of 2013.
The company said foreign currency effects increased earnings in the 2014 quarter by $432 million, compared with an increase of $202 million recorded same period of last year.
Also, full-year 2014 earnings were $19.2 billion ($10.14 per share) compared with $21.4 billion ($11.09 per share) in 2013.
Chevron affirmed that sales and other operating revenues in Q4 2014 were $42 billion, compared to $54 billion in the year-ago period.
“Our 2014 earnings were down from the previous year, largely due to the sharp decline in crude oil prices,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “Improved downstream results and higher gains on asset sales related to our divestment program partially offset the effect of lower crude prices.”
“In 2014, we continued to fund investments in key major capital projects under construction and raised the dividend payout on our common shares for the 27th consecutive year,” Watson added. “We enter 2015 with the financial strength to meet the challenges of a volatile crude price environment and with significant efforts underway to manage to a lower cost structure and capital spend rate.”
“We had a number of operational successes in 2014,” Watson continued. “
We had first production from the Jack/St. Malo and Tubular Bells deepwater developments in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bibiyana gas expansion project in Bangladesh. In Australia, our Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects continue to reach important construction milestones.
We also continue to make progress on our shale and tight resource developments in the Permian Basin, Argentina and Canada. At the same time, we had one of our best exploration years, with important discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Australia, West Africa and the Permian Basin, which add to our development queue for the future,” he said.
According to him, the company added approximately 840 million barrels of net oil-equivalent proved reserves in 2014. “These additions, which are subject to final reviews, equate to approximately 89 percent of net oil-equivalent production for the year,” Watson declared.
