Chevron Corp. said its first-quarter earnings dropped 43%, but
strength in the refining segment helped offset tumbling crude oil
prices and its results topped estimates.
Chevron, the second-biggest U.S. oil company in market value
behind Exxon Mobil Corp., has been working to increase its
oil-and-gas production. But oil prices have plummeted in recent
months amid an oversupply, just as its drive begins to show
results.
The company has said it would trim spending and stop buying back
its shares as the collapse in oil prices has wiped billions of
dollars from its cash flow.
Chevron's profits are better insulated than most oil producers
because it also makes money from refining the fuel into gasoline
and diesel. The lower-cost crude has helped its refinery businesses
improve profit margins.
In the latest quarter, refining, marketing and chemical
operations, or downstream, earnings rose to $1.42 billion from $710
million.
Meanwhile, earnings from exploration and production, or the
upstream segment, fell to $1.56 billion from $4.31 billion.
In all, Chevron reported earnings of $2.57 billion, or $1.37 a
share, down from $4.51 billion, or $2.36 a share, a year
earlier.
Revenue dropped to $34.56 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 79
cents a share and revenue of $24.37 billion.
The results come a day after Exxon posted a 46% drop in
first-quarter profit, also hurt by the sharp slump in oil prices,
though its results topped expectations.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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