Chevron's First Quarter Net Earnings Drop 62% From 1Q08

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) recently reported earnings information for the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year. Net income was down dramatically, mainly because of the low oil and gas prices experienced during the quarter. The company's revenues for the quarter were $35 billion, down 46% from 1Q08's $65 billion. Chevron's average price for a barrel of crude oil was $36 in the quarter, down from about $87 during the same period last year. Chevron also reported that average natural gas prices were $4.14 per thousand cubic feet, representing a drop of $3.41 from the 1Q08 average price.

The company's net earnings were down 62%, moving from $4.89 billion in 1Q08 to $1.84 in 1Q09. Production was also down for the company. Chevron reported production of 671,000 barrels during the quarter, a decrease of 44,000 barrels from the corresponding period of 2008. Natural gas production was down 17% year over year.

Chevron's business segments performed as follows:

• Upstream (exploration and production) - earnings of $1.27 billion, down 75% from the same period of the previous year
• Downstream (refining and transport) - earnings of $823 million, up 227% from 1Q08
• Chemicals - earnings of $39 million, down 9% from 1Q08

A large part of the decreased production was caused by closures from last year's hurricanes. "At the end of the first quarter, about 35,000 barrels per day remained offline and are expected to be restored as third-party pipelines are repaired," said James Aleveras, General Manager for Investor Relations.

Industrial Info is currently tracking more than $65 billion of Chevron projects in seven countries. Nearly $2 billion of this is centered around the company's refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which is scheduled to begin $1.25 billion of equipment additions this year, as well as an estimated $3.5 million reformer turnaround. Construction of an estimated $700 million grassroot receiving terminal for liquefied natural gas is also scheduled to kick off at the site later this year. Information on these and other projects can be found in Industrial Info's North American Industrial Database.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.