ConocoPhillips Expects Higher Production in 2025

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Production of oil and natural gas for 2025 is expected to be higher than year-ago levels, even with the impacts of weather and planned maintenance, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) (Houston, Texas) said.

Conoco said Thursday that production last year averaged 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d) in 2024, a 9% increase from prior-year levels when discounting the impacts of closed acquisitions.

ConocoPhillips announced plans in May to acquire Marathon Oil in an all-stock transaction valued at $22.5 billion, including debt. The deal closed in November.

Both companies are among the largest of their kind. Marathon Oil's assets included pipeline and production centers in North Dakota's Bakken Shale and the Texas' Eagle Ford Shale. Closing the deal made ConocoPhillips one of the largest stakeholders in the Bakken and the Eagle Ford basins.

In its guidance for 2025, Conoco said it was aiming for about 2.35 million Boe/d in production, an estimate that accounted for planned turnarounds. First-quarter levels should match full-year guidance, and that includes a slight hit from the inclement weather that rocked much of North America last month.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California), Conoco's supermajor counterpart, said in its fourth quarter report its own production was up 48,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) relative to 2023 levels, primarily due to higher output from the Permian Basin and the Gulf of Mexico. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Spring, Texas), for its part, reported its own production was up as well.

Many companies, however, are taking a hit on revenue streams because of lower market prices. Conoco reported total earnings of $2.3 billion, representing a 20% decline from the same period in 2023. Full-year earnings of $9.2 billion marked a 16% decline from 2023 levels.

Upstream-focused Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) (Houston) already reported fourth-quarter results last month, showing total revenue of $5.6 billion was about 2% below third-quarter levels. For North America, Halliburton reported total revenue of $2.2 billion, a 7% decline compared to the third quarter. The hit came largely from land-based operations in the U.S. and Canada, though the company received some support from the Gulf of Mexico.

In its earnings report, Conoco said it realized an average price of $54.83 per barrel-of-oil-equivalent production, compared with $58.39 in 2023. Crude oil prices were largely rangebound in 2024, while natural gas prices hit historic lows due to suppressed demand.

Energy companies can expect some political support this year. President Donald Trump has put an end to offshore wind leases and is pushing policies for U.S. energy dominance. But even before that, the U.S. had established itself as a global leader.

Total U.S. crude oil production is expected to average 13.5 million BBL/d in 2025, compared to levels closer to 11.1 million BBL/d when Trump's first stint in office ended in 2021. Natural gas production in 2021 was about 88.2 billion cubic feet per day, about 20% less than the expected average this year.

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